Mandie and the Pirate s Secret
by SmallNotesConcerningMyThoughts
Summary: While Mandie and her friends visit Charleston, they must help Tommy find the reason to why the Pattons were accused of robbery and clear the Pattons name.
1. Chapter 1

Mandie excitedly looked out the window. Sometimes she could catch small glimpses of the Charleston beach and some people strolling down to wiggle their toes in the water. After her and Celia´s daring discovery at Senator Morton´s, her grandmother had thrown her a surprise party. Her thoughts ran back to the great time she had with her friends. All of them had been able to make it. _Wow, I really am loved,_ she thought. Sallie, Dimar, Jonathan, Uncle Ned, Morning Star, her mother, Uncle John, and Joe. Joe, she thought. Her thoughts ran back to the moment Joe was standing close enough to her to pull her towards him and whisper into her ear "I love you, Mandie Shaw." She remembered her face and how it turned bright red. She thought everyone had heard, but apparently, they were all too deep in conversation to hear them. "I missed you, Joe," she responded. Then he slowly grabbed her hand and held it for a while.

"Mandie!" pause. "Mandie!" Celia was starting to get impatient. "MANDIE!" she finally said in an exasperated tone. "Come on, we´re here. Tommy will be waiting for us outside."

"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry. Just daydreaming," Mandie answered still a little distracted.

"Mandie, are you alright?" questioned Sallie with a little concern. "That´s unlike you. You usually pay attention to everything. Always expecting a new mystery!"

"Oh. I´m alright. Just umm… admiring the scenery," Mandie answered quickly with a slights smile.

"Well, come on, we don´t want to keep the others waiting, and I certainly wouldn´t like to keep you from seeing Tommy. Isn´t that right, Sallie?" Celia said giggling.

"Oh no!" We certainly wouldn´t like to keep Tommy waiting either," Sallie added.

"Oh hush! Both of you! Too bad Mr. Rogers won´t be here to escort you to the party Tommy told me about," Mandie said with a smirk.

Celia´s face turned bright red in a matter of seconds, and Celia, trying to hide it said with interest, "Ooo! What party?"

"No one in particular," Mandie answered plainly. "Now let´s get going."

Together they walked down the aisle of the train to meet up with Uncle Ned, Dimar, Joe, and Jonathan. The train was crowded so the three girls had to push their way through the crowd.

"My, my. Can you believe it?" said an elderly lady whom the girls were passing by. "I can´t believe… been accused of robbery and… to make matters worse… pirate ancestry!" finished the lady.

The girls only kept going forward as if they had not heard a thing. Only Mandie thought about it but decided to put it out of her mind since she couldn't figure out what the lady had meant. When they finally reached the boys Mandie was the first to speak.

"I´m so glad you could escort us all the way to Charleston, Uncle Ned. It´s a pity you can´t stay, though."

"Must go back to Deep Creek. Dimar must also go. Must help with the schoolhouse. But Sallie may stay."

"Thank you, Uncle Ned!" Mandie said excitedly and jumped up and hugged the old Cherokee man. "It´s said that you won´t get to stay either," she continued, this time directing herself to Dimar.

"Yes," he answered, "but I must go and help Mr. O'Neal with some modifications he would like to make to the schoolhouse."

"Of course. I´m sure Mr. Riley O'Neal will be very grateful. But now we must be going. We don´t want the train to start again before we get off," said Mandie.

"Yes, and we´ll be counting on all of you to visit us at the reservation," Dimar said.

"I would sure like to go. I´ve never been to any kind of reservation. I´m sure I´ll love everything," Jonathan quickly piped in.

"As long as they don´t give him owl stew," Joe murmured under his breath.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye. It was so nice seeing you again," Celia said and reaching to hug Dimar and Uncle Ned.

"Thank you, my grandfather, for letting me stay. I will soon return home," Sallie said also hugging her grandfather.

"Yes. You come home soon," he said.

"I will. I must return to my grandmother and help with the schoolhouse also," Sallie told Uncle Ned.

"Thank you. Both of you, for coming all the way down to Florida for my birthday. It meant a lot to me," Mandie said.

"I promise Jim Shaw to take care of his papoose. Always," Ned replied. "Now you go and see friends. Don´t get in trouble. Remember, think, then act."

"I will. I promise, Uncle Ned," said Mandie.

Finally, after hands were shook, hugs were given, and goodbyes were said, the girls, accompanied by Joe and Jonathan, got off the train and waved to Uncle Ned and Dimar as the train started off.

"Well, that was quite a train ride, wouldn´t you agree?" Jonathan asked Joe.

"Oh, yeah. Sure. It was the most interesting train ride I´ve _ever_ had," Joe said sarcastically.

"What happened?" Sallie asked with interest.

"Oh, nothing. Only that Jonathan here was giving us some trouble," Joe said while giving Jonathan a piercing glance.

"Me?" Jonathan exclaimed faking to be surprised. "I was an angel back there."

"Right! I forgot! You _never_ give anyone _any_ trouble."

"You got that right, my friend," said Jonathan while Joe rolled his eyes. "Now, let's go find some food. Because I´m starving."

"We just ate, silly," said Celia.

"Like a million years ago. It´s been ages since I last ate something," Jonathan exaggerated.

"I should think that the Pattons will be waiting for us and then we´ll find something to eat together," Mandie said in response to Jonathan´s complain.

"And we should also hurry up and find them because we need to freshen up a little bit before we do anything else," Celia added.

"Girls," Jonathan rolled his eyes.

"Common. Let´s go. We have to find them. Tommy said he would be waiting for us at the station," Mandie said rushing towards the station building. "I can´t wait to tell him all about Florida and the ´ghosts´!"

"Miss Amanda Shaw?" a tall, middle aged man, with a moustache and a uniform asked.

"Yes?" Mandie said, wondering who the man could be.

"I am Mr. Jacob Edwards, the Pattons´ butler," he said with a British accent. "I´m afraid they could not come to receive you in person and they send their apologies. That is why they have sent me to get you. The chauffeur is waiting by the carriage and I will take care of your luggage."

"Oh! That´s sad news. I hope everything is alright," Celia said politely.

"Everything is taken care of. Now, if you´ll follow me, I will show you towards the carriage," said Mr. Edwards.

"Thank you," Mandie said. "Will the Pattons be at home when we get there?" she inquired.

"I believe that Mr. Thomas is there waiting for you."

"Oh good!" said Mandie.

While the young people stepped into the very elegant carriage, Mr. Edwards and the chauffeur were loading their luggage and soon were ready to go. For the first half of the trip to the Pattons mansion, everyone was very quiet, but soon the scenery started to change from city streets to the calm Charleston beach.

"I think I might enjoy a swim down by the beach, don´t you think so?" Jonathan said while enjoying the warm sun.

"That sounds like a good idea," Joe said.

"And the ladies are welcome to join us," Jonathan finished with a big grin staring at the girls.

"I think we´ll just enjoy a nice stroll by the beach, right Mandie?" Celia said calmly and ignoring Jonathan.

"Yeah, I think that´ll be best since I don´t know how to swim," Mandie said with a slight pout.

"I´d be _honored_ to teach you," said Jonathan imitating a formal bow and extending his hand while sitting.

Mandie just rolled her eyes and quickly saw that they were getting close to Tommy´s house.

"Oh look! We´re almost there," she said pointing towards the mansion at a distance. "I do hope the Pattons will be there. I haven´t seen Tommy´s family in such a long time."

"I do hope there´s food!" Jonathan teased.

"Yeah, I´m kind'a getting hungry now," Joe said.

"Well, whether you like it or not, we are not going directly to the dining room," Celia said firmly. "We will have to freshen up and get out of these travel suits. It´s warmer that I expected so it will be good if you two change as well."

"Oh man!" Jonathan groaned loudly. "I suffer from a _special_ kind of sickness that makes me have a lot of pain if I don´t eat soon," he continued with a smile trying to enchant Celia.

"Celia," Sallie said, "don´t you think it has been a long time since we last ate. I do believe that Jonathan is correct, but of course we must change first."

"Thank you, mademoiselle," Jonathan said with a big grin and giving Celia an ´I told you so´, mischievous look.

"Oh! Do what you would like, but Mandie, Sallie, and I will go freshen up first, isn´t that right?" Celia asked looking for Mandie and Sallie´s approval.

"Well… I would like to chat with Tommy´s family for a bit," Mandie answered slowly trying not to look Celia directly in the eyes.

"I think I´ll stay with Mandie for a while. I would like to meet the Pattons, and there is so much to explore. Everything is so beautiful," Sallie explained while she looked around.

Celia looked shocked and Jonathan make his grin even bigger.

"Well, I suppose it´ll just be me then," said Celia.

"Really, Celia, what has gotten into you?" Mandie asked.

"There´s no harm in wanting to be a lady once in a while," Celia said calmly.

Soon they were in front of the Patton´s large mansion and as they were stepping down from the carriage Mandie noticed Tommy coming down the steps of the front porch to greet them. He was wearing his usual outfit. Long dark brown pair of trousers with a vest to match them and a white shirt with his cap on top of his curly brown hair.

"Mandie!" Tommy yelled excitedly.

Everyone turned up to see Tommy hurriedly running down the steps to them.

"It´s so good to see you, Mandie, and such a good timing to come also," Tommy talked fast, "I could really use your help in solving a mystery. You´ve probably heard by now. The news are all over town. Everyone's talking about it," Tommy kept going.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Tommy, stop! Hold on! Catch your breath!" Mandie told him.

"What are you talking about?" Joe asked.

"What? You don´t know?" Tommy asked surprised.

"Know what?" Mandie asked with curiosity.

"The news! There all over town!" Tommy yelled one again.

"Tommy, we don´t know what you´re talking about," Celia said calmly.

"Okay, then let´s get some food first and then you can tell us," Jonathan said grinning.

"Yeah, I bet you´re hungry," Tommy said leading them up the steps into the house, "common then!"

They settled down in the dining table while Celia went up to her room because she insisted that she should freshen up first.

"So, Tommy, what´s all this about? Explain it carefully," Mandie said slowly.

"Okay, this is what happened. As you know, my father is a representative of Charleston and when my parents were at a town meeting a man came in and accused the Pattons, us, of robbing the towns money because we were involved with pirates, and because of our distant pirate ancestry, that made the information that this man had more trustworthy according to the council…"

Tommy kept going until he finished the story while the young people ate. "So that is the story and I could sure use your help in solving this mystery."

"Well, you found the right lady to do this job. If anyone can figure this out, it´s Mandie," Joe said proudly.

Mandie blushed.

"Thank you for coming, especially now. And also thank you for agreeing to help us," Tommy said.

"What are friends for?" Celia asked as she entered the room after she had freshened up. "Oh, and by the way, I sure could use some food," Celia smiled while she exchanged glances with Jonathan.

"Of course!" Tommy said and rang a bell.

"So, when do we get started on this new mystery?" Jonathan asked.

"As soon as possible!" Mandie was starting to get excited.

* * *

Hi! This is my first FanFic! I would LOVE your reviews so I know what I´m getting wrong and what you think of the story. Sorry for any grammar of spelling mistakes. As you can see this is right after the Seaside Rendezvous and I know Celia seemed a little off (probably because I couldn´t think of anything else they could talk about, she seemed a little annoying) Also, I think I should improve Jonathan´s normal and fun character and his mischievous ways. I need practice to be able to write better. Thanks for reading. Look out for the next chapter. Oh! and I´m Booklover (thats me when I still didn´t have an account) so if I review your story I´m the same person. Again, sorry for the grammar and spelling mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all of you for reviewing! So here´s chapter 2, I hope you enjoy and I hope it´s not to cheesy.**

 **Erin Elizabeth:** Since Mandie is only 14 in this story and she isn´t very grown up yet, I think I´ll just stick to the normal LGL flirting that she used for her Mandie books. But there will definitely be M&J moments. For future FanFics I have planned that are based after College Days, there will be more seriousness in M&J´s relationship.

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** Thank you for reviewing! I´m glad that you didn´t think the Celia part wasn´t to cheesy or annoying.

"So…" Mandie started to say, "we know that the Pattons were accused of robbery, pirate ancestary, and that somehow someone broke into the house and stole some very important documents that belonged to the government," she finished.

"Mandie, we don´t even know it someone broke into the house. All Tommy said was that the documents were missing out of his father´s office—"

"Which means that someone had to steal it!" Mandie interrupted her. "How else do you explain for some important files which no one has access to suddenly disappear?" Mandie questioned.

Earlier that day, after Tommy had told them the story, Tommy was able to catch up to Mandie and give her some valuable information.

 **Earlier that day**

"Mandie, wait up!" Tommy called after her.

Mandie turned around to see Tommy running after her. "What´s up?"

"When I told everyone about what had happened earlier I didn´t tell the complete story," Tommy confessed, "last night I heard father say that the night before last he had checked some important paperwork but in the morning when he wanted to check something again, it wasn´t there!"

"Well, why didn´t you say so?" Mandie asked.

"I think that the people who accused us have spies and are watching us."

"What makes you think that?"

"Do you remember the man who went to pick you up at the station? The butler?" Tommy questioned.

"Yes, I think so. The man with the British accent, whose name was… oh, I can´t remember. Something like Mr. Edward Jacobs," she said doubtfully.

"Yes! Mr. Jacob Edwards. That´s him. You see, he was hired exactly a month before we were accused and then he was very persistent that we get some new servants and he chose most of them himself. We only hired a dozen more staff or so."

"Mmm…" Mandie said to herself, "this is starting to get interesting."

 **Later**

"So that´s what Tommy told me," she said stubbornly.

"Mandie, don´t you think you´re getting too excited with this new mystery?" Sallie said. "Celia is right, just because the files went missing doesn't mean that someone broke into the house. Tommy didn´t mention any broken windows or doors, did he? And besides, he said that he was suspicious of the butler, what was his name again?"

"Jacob Edwards," Celia said.

"I guess you´re right, but wouldn´t Mr. Patton have noticed the strange attitude of Mr. Edwards. Since he works for the government he should be extra careful of whom he hires, I should think," Mandie said.

"What exactly are you trying to say, Mandie," Celia asked her.

"Well…" she said thoughtfully, "I´m trying to put the pieces together. Tommy told us about a man who accused his family of thievery, he also told me about the questioning Mr. Edwards, then came the missing governmental papers, and… what else?"

"Mandie! I just thought of something!" Sallie said excitedly. "You said that Tommy told you they were government papers, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, what if it was the same people who accused them trying to make them look bad in the eyes of the government, and what if someone didn´t break in but it was one of the new servants, or even an old one!"

"Wow, you could be right," said Celia.

"We might be getting somewhere after all!" Mandie responded.

"Yes!" Sallie agreed.

Celia yawned loudly enough to get the two girls attention and said "Well, I´ve had enough excitement for today. I think we should be going to sleep."

"But Celia!" Mandie protested and nagged her, "we´re barely starting to connect the points. I was just starting to make some sense of it. Oh! And something we never thought about before was why someone would want to ruin the Pattons´ name. I know they are a very respected and prestigious family here in Charleston. I wonder why in the world someone would want to do that?"

"Revenge, maybe," Sallie suggested.

"Maybe," Mandie said while shrugging her shoulders.

"But it´s just a possibility. We mustn't discard any possibilities," Sallie reminded her.

"Yeah, you´re right," Mandie said still lost in thought.

"Mandieeee! Turn the lights off!" Celia whined.

"Okay, okay. I´ll turn the light off now. Besides we should get a good night's sleep so we can start fresh and early tomorrow morning and solve this mystery!" Mandie said enthusiastically.

As she turned off the lights and headed towards her bed, she thought she saw a light outside coming from beneath the door but quickly disappeared. _Ehh, just an illusion,_ she thought _. I´m probably really tired after all this excitement._

Next morning when the three girls were already dressed and up and were heading downstairs for breakfast they discussed their conversation that they had last night. As they entered the dining room they found the boys were already seated and talking about the things they would be doing during their visit.

"I would like to go for a swim down by the ocean, it sure looks nice," Jonathan commented.

"Yes, this time of year is excellent for swimming. The water´s temperature is perfect," Tommy answered to his comment.

"I think I´ll go as well if you two are up to it," Joe said and then turned to see the girls coming, "and I bet Mandie will be too busy solving the mystery."

Mandie grinned when she heard him and said, "Yes, you can be sure that I´ll be _very_ busy." She grinned at Joe.

Celia, Sallie, and Mandie sat down next to the boys and had their breakfast while discussing their plans and what they would do to solve this new mystery. But Mandie paid no attention. Every time she turned to look at the butler, Mr. Edwards, he seemed suspicious. He was always looking at them and as time passed she was more sure that she had seen a light coming from under the doorway. _I´m sure I saw a light,_ she thought, _in fact, I think I may have even heard a small noise._ _But wait! No, that´s impossible. Stop jumping into silly conclusions, Mandie,_ she told herself.

"I dreamed a very strange dream last night," Jonathan was telling the group. "I was in my bed, wide awake, but then I felt very sleepy and I started to drift off and then a man came into the bedroom looking for something, but then I woke off and I never finished dreaming."

"Wait!" When did you dream that? I mean, around what time was it when you woke up?" Mandie asked him excitedly.

"Well… I´m not sure, I don´t take the time on everything that happens. But I´m guessing I had the dream right after I had drifted off to sleep," Jonathan answered.

"Hmmm…" was all Mandie said.

"Mandie, you seem a bit off today," Joe told her.

"Oh! Well, you know, I´m always caught up with new mysteries!" she said in a rather cheerful tone.

"I must admit, this mystery is quite exciting. Probably the most exciting I´ve had in a long time," Joe replied.

"Oh, Mandie! Did you tell Tommy about the "ghosts"?" Celia reminded her.

"What ghosts!" Tommy asked quickly, glad to have something else to think about besides worrying for his family´s name.

"Oh, right! I almost forgot!" Mandie finally was able to bring herself out of her mind. "Well, it goes like this: In St. Augustine, Florida, many people believe in ghosts. Many say they have them in their homes, or that they have even seen one. When we arrived at Senator Morton´s house, we met up with this queer deaf and mute servant and a strange maid also. We also saw the strange lady who followed us all over Europe and we heard many strange noises during the night. One night we snuck out of the house and followed the strange woman…"

As Mandie finished relating the story to the interested audience, Tommy said:

"That sure was exciting!" he exclaimed. "I wish I could have been there. I sure would have liked to see a "ghost"!" he joked.

"It was terrifying!" Celia said. "I never want to solve another mystery as scary as that one. With Mandie sneaking out at night, I couldn´t let her go out on her own. What if something happened to her?" she said in a worried tone.

"I´m sure she´ll make a fine detective someday," Sallie laughed.

"My father could hire her," Jonathan continued with his normal mischievous grin.

"Oh, you stop it! I´m not interested in that career. Besides, my mother had already talked to me about studying things that have to do with business to manage the entire family fortune," Mandie said, "but you can be sure that that wasn´t the last time I´ll be sneaking out late at night to solve a mystery," she assured them.

"I´m sure she´ll be sneaking out _many_ times in the near future," Joe replied to her comment.

Mandie smiled at him. Joe smiled back.

When the young people had finished their breakfast, Tommy took all of them on a stroll around his house. He showed them a small path that led up to the beach, which was quite close to his house, and they sat on some benches that were already there.

"I think maybe later today or tomorrow I´ll come down for a swim," Joe said enjoying the sunshine.

"Is it safe around here, Tommy?" Sallie asked.

"In what way?"

"Are there any currents or sea animals?"

"No. It´s a pretty nice place for a swim. The waters not to cold, there aren´t many animals except for fish, and the waves aren´t strong. It´s pretty calm," Tommy explained.

"I see," Sallie said while staring at the waves. "I think maybe we could walk down to the ocean while the boys go for a swim later," Sallie told Mandie and Celia.

"Yes, I agree. The weather is perfect today," responded Celia.

Mandie just kept thinking about the light.

After they rested on the benches for a while they decided to go back to the house because it would soon be time for lunch and Jonathan wouldn´t allow them to be late. While they walked back to the house on a different path, Mandie was able to catch Jonathan and talk to him alone.

"Jonathan," Mandie said.

"Yeah?" he turned around to see her.

"I was just wondering, the man you dreamed about, was he… just tell me about him."

"He was very discrete. Almost as if he was trying to avoid anyone. He was tall, and he had something on his face because I couldn´t see the outline of a normal face. Probably a mask," he said describing the man.

"Was he slim?"

"Ummm…" Jonathan said trying to remember, "yeah, I think he was," he finished.

"Why?"

"Just like Mr. Jacob!" Mandie said under her breath excitedly.

"What!?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Mandie?"

"Well, promise not to tell anyone. Tommy told me he thinks that whoever is behind this mystery is a servant in his house. He thinks Mr. Jacob Edwards, the butler, is not trustworthy. He also said that someone had stolen some important documents out of his father's office and there weren´t any shattered windows or broken locks. So, someone in the household must be guilty! And last night when I was turning off the lights I think I saw a light," she explained to him.

"You think?" he questioned.

"Yeah. Well, I´m sure. Nooo… Last night I didn´t think anything of it. I thought it was just an illusion because of all the excitement that was going on and because I was tired from the long train ride. But this morning when you mentioned your dream, I thought it was a possibility that someone did turn on the lights last night, and the room you´re staying in is just in front of ours."

"Hmmm. That´s interesting," Jonathan said thoughtfully.

"Mandie!" Joe called from up front, "don´t get too behind."

 _Jealous,_ Mandie thought. She laughed silently. _He doesn´t know how much I do love him and how much I appreciate him_.

They finally arrived and went to their rooms. Lunch was soon to be served, with a very special guest.

 **Yay! I finished my second chapter! Tell me what you think and remind me of any mistakes I might be making. I might not get everything right, according to the LGL books because I read "The Charleston Phantom" a long, LONG, time ago and I don´t remember much of it. I also don´t know if Jonathan or Sallie have ever been to Charleston or at least met Tommy. I could really use your help refreshing my memory of what happened in "The Charleston Phantom". Do you think the mystery is good? Interesting, so far? I hope you enjoyed it and keep close watch for the continuation.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! I´m back with chapter 3! And I´m super sorry for not updating sooner but my mind was empty. I had nothing in it. I had no idea what to write. I´ll try to update at least once a week, but I can make no promises. And also, for those of you who still don´t know me, I´m Booklover. I´ve reviewed some stories with that name, so just to let you know, I´m the same person.**

 **MandieFan:** Thanks for the compliment. Do you really think that the character are right? I feel that Celia´s a bit off. And I´m glad you´re liking the mystery so far.

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** Thank you, Thank you! I really want people to feel like they´re reading something that LGL wrote! I think that maybe I could put in some more M&J moments and also thanks a lot for the quick info on "Charleston Phantom".

 **LinaKTC25:** Thanks for reviewing. I get super excited when someone reviews my story because that tells me that someone _is_ reading my story. And I do have the basic plot for other stories so as soon as I finish this one, I´ll start writing more.

* * *

"Miss," the young maid spoke as Mandie opened the door to her room, "lunch is ready. The Pattons have appointed me to be your personal maid while you are here. I believe you are Miss Hamilton?"

"Oh! Thank you! I could use some food after the long walk we had earlier this morning. Oh, and by the way, I´m Amanda Shaw. My friends call me Mandie. You can call me Mandie too," she said cheerfully.

"Forgive me, please. I did not know who you were," the maid said in distress as if Mandie were to scold her.

"Nonsense. Everyone makes mistakes once in a while," Mandie said rather confused because of the maid´s behavior.

"Thank you, Miss. Thank you," she said relieved that Mandie had not said anything harsh. "Lunch will be served in the Blue Dining Room. We have an important guest. Mrs. Patton asked me to inform you. I´ll be leaving you now so you can put on a formal dress."

"Thanks for letting us know. I guess we´ll be seeing each other around, umm… I don´t believe I caught your name," Mandie said.

"Heather," said the maid.

"Then I guess we´ll be seeing each other around a lot, Heather," Mandie said with a big smile on her face.

"Yes ma´am," she answered.

"Please, call me Mandie," she said.

"See you later, miss," the maid finished and hurried off.

Mandie watched go down the hallway and then entered her room. She saw Celia preparing a dress for the evening dinner.

"Celia, you might want to put that now instead of later," Mandie told her.

"Why´s that?" she asked, "and who was that at the door?"

"Oh, that was Heather, the maid who will be taking care of us while we´re here and she said that we´ll be having important guests for lunch," Mandie said, "so I guess that we should put on more formal clothes," she finished.

"I wonder who they could be?" Sallie said thoughtfully.

"I don´t know. She didn´t say," Mandie answered.

"Well, let's change and then go down to the dining room. I think I could use some food," Celia said.

"Yeah, after that long walk we had I think food would do us some good. Then maybe after that, the boys will want to go swimming and we can rest on the beach while they swim," Sallie suggested.

"That´s a good idea," Celia agreed.

"I agree," Mandie piped in.

When the girl finally dressed and were ready, they started heading towards the dining room and met up with the boys.

"I wonder who could be the special guests?" Joe asked.

"So you heard about them too?" Celia questioned.

"Yeah, this young man came into our rooms to tell us where lunch would be served," Jonathan replied.

"I wonder were Tommy is," Sallie said thoughtfully.

"I bet he´s in his room changing or… he´s already waiting for us downstairs because I see him waving," Jonathan said.

"Oh, look! There he is!" Mandie said pointing down the stairs to where Tommy was standing waiting for them.

Together they headed downstairs and caught up with Tommy. When they finally reached them Mandie was the first to speak.

"Tommy," she said, "who are the guests?"

"Guests?" he asked.

"Well, yes… a maid, Heather, said that there would be special guests," Mandie said rather confused that Tommy didn´t seem to know what she was talking about.

"You mean, _a_ special guest, not guests," Tommy said while chuckling.

"Oh, I guess we misunderstood," Sallie said.

"Well, common then, we don´t want to be late for lunch, do we?" Jonathan said with a big smile. "My stomach is getting kind´a hungry now."

"Yes, let´s go now," Celia agreed.

The friends walked together heading towards the dining room. As they walked, they discussed how they could find out more information on this new mystery.

"Oh! How nice to see you Mandie! It´s been quite a while since we last saw each other! and I see you´ve brought your friends with you this time," Mrs. Patton welcomed Mandie when they arrived at the parlor.

"Yes ma´am. I agree. I can´t remember the last time I came to visit," Mandie replied.

"I apologize for not being able to be here and welcome you yesterday, but my husband and I had important business to do in town," Mrs. Patton apologized.

"Oh, don´t worry ma´am. Tommy had already showed all of my friends around the house. We even went down by the ocean this morning and the boys plan to go swimming some time," Mandie quickly said.

"Who are your friends?" Mrs. Patton said turning to look at Jonathan, Joe, Sallie, and Celia.

"Oh! These are my friends from back home. Sallie is from Deep Creek. That is near the Cherokee reservation. Joe is from Charley Gap, back where I used to live when my father was still alive. I believe you already know Celia, who´s from Richmond but we met at Misses Heathwood´s school. Celia and I met Jonathan when we were heading towards Europe," Mandie finished introducing them.

"It´s very nice to meet you. All of you," Mrs. Patton said smiling warmly.

"Thank you for having me in your home, Mrs. Patton," Sallie said shaking her hand.

"Yes, thank you," Joe also said.

"Now, come along and meet Ms. Olivia Blakely. She is part of a governmental—"

"Very nice to meet you, children," Ms. Blakely interrupted. "I´m just an employed lady who is helping the Pattons with some business paperwork."

Olivia Blakely was a middle-aged woman around her 40´s with dark hair, glasses, and a small hat. She was dressed in dark purple. So dark, that it almost looked black.

"Hello Ms. Blakely. I´m Amanda Shaw, Mandie, my friends call me," she said, "and it´s very nice to meet you."

"Oh! You must be Elizabeth Taft´s daughter! Who married John Shaw. The richest man in the Carolinas," Olivia Blakely said.

"Yes ma´am," Mandie answered with confusion. She didn´t know how this lady knew so much about her. "Mrs. Patton started to mention that you were a governmental person. What is your job?" Mandie asked trying to get more information about this person.

"Oh, like I said, I´m just an employed lady who´s helping the Pattons," Olivia said.

"Well hello there, Miss Amanda!" Mr. Patton said cheerfully. "I´m glad that you and your friends were able to make it. Tommy has been telling me about your visit," leaning down to Mandie he whispered, "and that you´ve come to help with this new mystery."

"Yes sir!" she said.

"Lunch is ready Mrs. Patton," a maid called to her.

"Shall we go then?" Mr. Patton asked to the group while extending his arm to his wife.

"Yes, dear," she replied.

The small group walked to a nearby room which was blue. It was small and had a table in the middle surrounded with settees, couches and a loveseat.

While the adults quietly sat down, Tommy, Jonathan, Sallie, and Celia raced for the settees leaving Mandie and Joe no other option but the loveseat.

"You look very pretty in that green dress, Mandie," Joe whispered to her.

"Thank you, Joe," Mandie answered while blushing.

"Do you want to go out for a walk later?" Joe asked.

"Umm… maybe."

The young people quickly started chatting together while the adults conversed about "business paperwork", as had said Ms. Olivia.

"I was thinking about a new plan… it could be risky… it´s worth trying…" Ms. Blakely said in a hushed tone.

Mandie gasped.

"Mandie?" Celia asked. She was the only one who seemed to notice Mandie´s expression.

"No way!" Mandie said in a whispered tone.

"Mandie! What is it?" Celia asked again.

"She´s the woman from the train! She´s not an employee! She´s an imposter!" Mandie said in an almost impossible to hear whisper.

"Mandie? What do you mean?" Celia questioned her.

"When we were getting off the train, a woman was talking about the Pattons. I hadn´t found out yet what had happened and I didn´t make much of it, but now I know what she was talking about. I´m sure it´s her," she continued to talk softly.

At that moment, Ms. Blakely eyed Mandie with a stern glance. Almost as if she knew they were talking about her.

After lunch, Ms. Olivia Blakely left, leaving the young people free to do what they wanted.

"You know," Jonathan started to say, "I think I´m too tired to go for a swim now. I think I might just have to wait for tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess you´re right. It´s getting a little late and the guest left later than I expected," Tommy said. "I think I might just go and read a book instead."

"And that way, I´ll be sure I don´t miss dinner time," Jonathan said thinking of his stomach.

Mandie just rolled her eyes.

"Then, will you take a walk with me?" Joe asked her.

"I guess so, now that you won't be going for a swim," Mandie replied hesitantly.

Later that afternoon, when Mandie and Joe were going for a walk by the beach Mandie discussed the lady she had seen on the train and how she thought Ms. Olivia could be an imposter.

"Well, if anyone can find out who see really is, it´s you, Mandie," Joe said enthusiastically.

They walked in silence for quite a while.

"Joe…" Mandie hesitated to keep going.

"Yes?"

"Back down in Florida, I…"

Pause.

"I… I just wanted to tell you that you´re a very good friend. I´ve missed you terribly now that you´re in college and I was really worried that you might not be able to make it home for the summer vacations," she finally said. _Oh! Common Mandie! Just tell him that you love him! It can´t be_ _that_ _hard!_ she thought.

"Thank you, Mandie, that means a lot. But I sense that you want to tell me something else," Joe eyed her suspiciously.

"Joe," she took in a deep breath, "I…" she let it out. Took in another deep breath, "I love you," she let it out.

"Come here," Joe said gently pulling her close and hugging her.

She let him hug her.

"I love you, Amanda Shaw," he said.

Back in her room, Mandie thought of the "romantic" moment, if you could call it that.

"What did Joe tell you?" Sallie teased her.

"What!?" Mandie asked turning around quickly to see her friend.

"Oh, nothing. You just seem to be daydreaming."

"We just discussed the mystery. That´s all," Mandie said plainly.

"That´s all?" Celia questioned.

"Yes. That´s all," she said stubbornly.

"Well, you get ready for bed and when you are, turn off the lights," Celia instructed.

"Yes, your majesty," Mandie said while curtsying.

"What!? I´m tired! my dear maid. Go and fetch me my comb!" Celia said teasingly while laughing.

"Yes, madam!" Mandie obeyed. "I´ll just get ready for bed and then I´ll turn the lights off."

Mandie quickly undressed and put on her night gown. She brushed her teeth, combed her hair and was ready to go to bed.

"Oh, right! The lights!" she murmured to herself.

She walked towards the switch and turned it off. She looked down at the floor and…

 _There it is again! The light! Someone_ _has_ _to be out there,_ she thought. _Maybe I should follow them. No… But, Celia´s already asleep, and so is Sallie… No, I don´t think I should. Well, as long as the lights are still on while I change back into my clothes. Just this one time, Mandie Shaw. You shouldn´t get yourself into trouble. Remember what Uncle Ned told you,_ she told herself. _I´ll just see where that light is coming from. That´s all,_ she kept thinking while she quickly changed back to her clothes.

The light was still on when she started to open the door slowly and silently. Then, the lights went off. Darkness!

"Oh! I should have brought a lamp with me!" she said silently. "But there´s no turning back now."

She kept going into the darkness and then… a shadow. She saw it. She was sure.

She followed the shadow downstairs until she couldn´t figure out where it had gone. Then she heard a small noise come from the garden outside and a window was open.

"But how?" she asked herself. "They must have a key to the window if they come in and get out so easily. I´ll just follow whoever it is for a little while. _Just_ that."

She grabbed her skirt and put one foot out the window.

 _Here I go again!_ She thought.

* * *

 **Done! I hope you LOVED it! And I´m starting to think that maybe it´s too similar to the Seaside Rendezvous, anyway, Sorry for finishing it here with all the suspense and all but maybe that will force me to update sooner next time. Again, I´m really sorry for not updating sooner. Oh! and…**

 **LinaKTC25** : What did you think of the MandieJoe moment? Did you like it? Let me know if you want more JoeManda moments!


	4. Chapter 4

**It´s Monday! and guess what that means? It´s UPDATE DAY, at least you´ll get an update from me every Monday, I hope. :D. Thank you for your reviews and:**

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** Thank you for LOVING it! Your reviews always make my day!

 **LinaKTC25:** I´m glad you like the MandieJoe moment. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

 **Again, thanks to all of you who have been reading my story.** **And please feel free to remind me of any mistakes I might be making or tell me anything you would like to see in the story.**

* * *

She grabbed her skirt, put one foot out the window, hoped that the fall to the ground wasn´t big, put her other leg out the window, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped!

"Whew! That wasn´t a big fall, was it?" she talked to herself quietly. "Now all I have to do is follow whoever was in the hallway."

She quickly found the shadow, or a man, as she could now see, sitting on a bench quietly. Suddenly the man got up, started walking down hill, away from the ocean, and kept walking.

 _Remember what you said, Mandie. You were just going to see where the man is going._

Mandie started walking silently trying not to step on any twigs and hoping that the man wouldn´t turn around. She followed him for quite a while until she could barely make out the figure of the Pattons´ mansion. Then she heard the soft ocean waves.

 _Wait a minute! Weren´t we going away from the ocean? Why would the man waste him time wondering around?_

She hid behind some small bushed and saw the man sit down again on a bench. She waited, and waited, and waited. Her eyes were starting to drift off.

 _Don´t! Mandie! You can´t drift off. Not now. Not here._

Her eyes were getting heavier. Then, a twig snapped!

She suddenly opened her eyes. She saw a woman going towards the man sitting on a bench.

 _Maybe I should get closer. But, no! You´ll just make noise._

The woman slowly sat down. They both sat there for a while. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Mandie, the man spoke.

"Do you think she will come?" he asked.

"I do not know," the woman was slow to answer.

 _What does he mean? Who is he talking about? Will someone else come and meet them also?_ she wondered.

"Do you think she will know?" he asked again.

"Know what?"

"All this. That it´s a setup?"

"Maybe. But I doubt it," she answered.

 _What setup?_

They both sat there. In silence.

Mandie was starting to drift off again. No one spoke. She started to doze off.

 _No! Mandie! No!_

She pinched herself, but she couldn´t help it. She fell asleep.

* * *

"I wonder where Mandie could be?" Celia asked Sallie.

"She probably just got up early and is down waiting for us. It´s around breakfast time," she considered, "maybe she´s chatting with the boys."

"Yeah. She´s an early bird."

"Well, let´s get ready and head downstairs. I´m sure Mandie will want to start solving the mystery."

"Yes! Let´s do. Just let me finish putting on my dress," Celia said.

"Okay. While you do that, I´ll comb my hair," Sallie responded.

The two girls finished getting ready and headed downstairs. The entered the dining room and saw the boys waiting for them, but they didn´t see Mandie.

"Do you know where Mandie is?" Celia asked them.

The all shook their heads.

"Nope," Jonathan said.

"Why do you ask? Isn´t she with you?" Joe asked.

"No, she wasn´t in out room this morning when we woke up," Sallie explained.

* * *

Mandie saw Celia and Sallie coming down the stair. _Probably going down for breakfast. I better be quick._ She hurried up the stairs to the room they were sharing. She quickly put on a new dress, combed her messy hair, took out all the twigs that were stuck and washed her face. _Hopefully I don´t smell like I spent the night outside,_ she thought. She quietly snuck down stairs hoping that no one would notice her and headed towards the dining room.

"Where do you think she is? She had to be around somewhere," Tommy said.

"Hello!" Mandie said cheerfully as she walked into the room.

"Where were you?" Joe asked trying not to sound too worried.

"Oh, I was just going out for a stroll, that´s it," she calmly explained.

"You had us worried," Sallie said. "When we woke up and didn´t see you, we thought that maybe you just got up early and came down for breakfast."

"But then when we came down and didn´t see you we started to get worried," Celia finished.

"Oh, not to worry about me. It´s pretty nice outside. I´m sure the weather is perfect to go swimming today."

"Now that we know where she is, why don´t we have breakfast?" Jonathan asked.

"Sounds good with me," Joe said eagerly.

The servants soon brought breakfast and the young people started discussing the mystery.

"What else have you found out from your parents, Tommy?" Sallie asked.

"They haven´t said anything. I think they want to keep all of it a secret," he answered.

"Who was the lady yesterday? Ms. Olivia Blakely," Mandie questioned.

"Well, she said that she was someone who was helping the Pattons with business paperwork," Joe said.

"Yes, but Mrs. Patton started introducing her as a governmental person and then Ms. Blakely interrupted her. Did you notice that?" she asked.

"Yes, I thought I noticed that," Sallie agreed.

Celia looked at Mandie, as if asking her if she was going to tell the group how she thought Olivia Blakely was an imposter. Mandie just shook her head slightly. Celia understood.

"I don´t know if you noticed this also, but when we went to that blue room to eat lunch, Ms. Olivia kept staring at you, Mandie," Sallie told her.

"Yes, I thought she was queer," Mandie said plainly. She thought for a while. "Tommy? Didn´t you say that the person who ruined your family´s name accused you of pirate ancestry?"

"Yes…" he drifted off. "Why?"

"Well, I´ve been thinking, what if all this was a setup?" she remembered what she had heard the man say last night.

"What do you mean, Mandie?" Joe asked.

"What if all this, the accusation, the robbery, and the stolen papers, was just a distraction," she proposed.

"What makes you think that?" Jonathan wanted to know.

"Oh, I don´t know, just a lucky guess," she said, trying to sound calm and not suspicious.

"It could be possible. We don´t have many clues yet, so we can´t make a good, solid conclusion," Sallie warned.

"You´re right, but like you said, I could be a possibility," Mandie said.

"How are we supposed to get any clues. We don´t even know where to start," Tommy argued.

 _Hahaha…_ Mandie laughed internally, _I know someone who has many clues_ , she smiled.

"Mandie can solve anything," Joe said. "She doesn´t need to hunt for clues. The clues come to her," he smiled.

 _Yeah,_ she thought. _The clues come to me, I don´t search for them._

"So, what are we going to do?" Celia asked.

"I don´t know," Jonathan answered.

"Wait!" Mandie suddenly whispered.

"What?" Jonathan asked loudly enough for Mandie to shush him.

"Shhhhh!" she cried.

"What?" he asked in a whisper this time.

"Tommy, isn´t your butler supposed to be on duty at all times?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Then why is he outside and not wearing his uniform? He´s wearing normal clothes," she asked hurriedly.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes! I´m sure! Look out the window and see for yourself if you don´t believe me," she said pointing out the window.

All the young people got out of their seats and hurried to the windows to look at the man Mandie had seen and thought was the butler.

"I don´t see anyone," Celia pointed out.

"Me neither," Sallie said.

"Look! There he is," Jonathan said pointing towards a small spot that was quickly disappearing.

"Mandie, is that the man you saw?" Joe asked her.

No response.

"Mandie?" Joe turned around to look for her, but she was nowhere in sight.

"Where did she go this time?" Jonathan asked.

"Hey!" they heard a small shout coming from outside.

"What?! How did you get out there so fast?" Jonathan asked. He looked out the open window and saw Mandie waving at them.

"Aren´t you coming?" she asked.

"What are you doing?" Celia asked.

"I´m following the man. I want to see where he is headed," she explained and started walking off again.

"Wait! Mandie! I´m going with you!" Joe shouted out the window.

"Shhhh! Not so loud. The man could hear you!"

Joe started to go when Sallie called to him.

"I´ll go too," she said.

"Okay," he agreed.

Together, the two walked towards the door and quickly caught up to Mandie.

"Where is he?" Sallie asked.

"Over there," Mandie pointed out.

"Right," Joe said.

"He´s walking towards that old cottage or whatever it is," Mandie said.

Together they followed the man silently and when they arrived at the cottage, Mandie, Joe, and Sallie peeked through a hole to see what was going on.

"Did she come last night?" another man asked.

"I believe so," replied the butler.

The three people were at the back of the cottage and soon a new person stepped through the only door at the front into the scene.

"Ahh, Mr. Patton, I´m so glad you could join us!" said the first man.

"What is all this about, Jacob?" asked Mr. Patton with confusion in his voice.

"Well, allow me to present you to a… umm… he´s my co-worker, if you could put it that way," Mr. Jacob said. "You see, together, my team and I, have been able to find some valuable information that could help you in this _mystery_ ," he said.

"This is not a mystery. This could ruin my whole family's name!"

"Well, yes. It already has. But, as I said, we found some valuable information. Accusing you of pirate ancestry was just an extra. What those people really want is to cover up themselves by accusing someone who has access to the town´s money," Mr. Jacob said.

"I knew it!" Mandie quickly said.

The other man almost never talked.

"So, how can your friend, here, help me?" Mr. Patton asked.

"He happens to know some locations, not accurate ones, but they might be of some use to us," the other man finally spoke.

"And how may I call you?" questioned Mr. Patton.

"There is no need to know," was all he said.

"Mandie, it looks like they're about to finish. Maybe we should get going, just in case," Sallie told her.

"No! Let´s wait a bit longer. Maybe they´ll say something really important," she resisted.

"Mandie, I do think that we should get going," Joe reasoned.

"Well, that´s about it…" said the butler.

"Oh man! Now I didn´t get to here what he said before that!" she pouted.

"Mandie!" Sallie pleaded.

"Oh fine! Let´s get going," she said a still little stubbornly.

The three young people raced back to the house hoping that no one would see them. They quickly entered the front door and Mandie turned to look back to see if she could see anything and the men were coming out at that moment.

"So, what did you find out?" Tommy asked when Mandie was turning around.

He surprised Mandie and she let out a small gasp.

"Oh, nothing," she said a little unsure.

Sallie gave her a look, like if she should tell Tommy what they saw. She just shook her head slightly.

"Really?" Tommy questioned.

Mandie was starting to get a little nervous.

"Yeah," she stammered a little. "The man kept going ang going and going. So we just thought that he was leading us to nowhere."

"The man? Didn´t you say it was the butler, Mr. Jacob?"

"Well, we couldn´t catch a good glimpse of his face," she responded to Tommy´s questioning.

"I think Mandie and I are really tired. We walked a lot chasing that man out there," Sallie began to say, "I think that we should go up to our rooms, right Mandie?"

"I don´t—"

Sallie gave her another look.

"I don´t think it would do us any harm to go up and rest a little," Mandie finished.

Now Sallie gave her an approving look. She smiled.

"Tommy was just going to show us a chess set, and Jonathan wanted to play, so I think I´ll stay here and watch," Celia said.

"Oh, alright," Mandie agreed.

Mandie and Sallie walked quickly up the stairs with Joe following behind.

"Mandie!" Joe reached out to grab her arm, "why didn´t you tell Tommy what you saw?"

"You saw what I saw! You both did! If I told Tommy that I saw his father with "the enemy" he would think his father was behind all this!" she explained.

"What!?" Joe asked surprised. "What do you mean by "the enemy"?"

"Oh…" she suddenly realized. "You don´t know?"

"Know what?"

"I don´t think you´ve told him, Mandie," Sallie intervened.

"Well, I don´t remember if I told you, but Tommy told me he thought that the butler was behind all this, and I have a reason to believe he is right," she said slowly.

"What proof or evidence?" both Joe and Sallie asked.

"I umm… I might of have snuck out last night," she said trying to put on a smile.

* * *

 **I honestly don´t remember if Mandie had told Joe about Mr. Jacob being a suspect. I also think that at the very beginning of this chapter I wasn´t doing it in a LGL style of writing, I think it was more of my own. I was SUPER inspired for the first half of the chapter and then… boom, all I continued to write was gibberish. I don´t think I put in a lot of effort at the end, but, oh well. I also don´t see how this story is related to anything about pirate´s secrets and that's why I´m trying to put in some more things about pirates and all. Tell me what you think and have a nice day. Don´t forget to check next Monday for chapter 5 and to see if I stayed true to my word.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Now, to my apologies. I am sooooo soooo soooo sorry for not updating last Monday. Ahhh, (*you´re hating me right?) please don´t hate me. I have some really good excuses, I think, First, I left my charger at my grandmother´s house and my lap died and I had no extra charger. And I didn´t get it until late Sunday night. Fine, I´ll be honest with you, Monday came and I still didn´t have anything written down. And then Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. But, I have a good excuse for that too, I was too emotional to think of anything. I can´t believe Marinette and Adrien were sooooo close to finding out each others identities. Ahhhhhhh. I´m dying. They were THIS close. NOOOO. How could they! And now you´re thinking I´m a baby ´cause I watch shows for little kids. But I LOVE Miraculous. And Glaciator was supposed to come out this Monday but it didn´t, (a spear just pierced my heart) I hope I can make it up to you by publishing another chapter soon. But since it´s almost Monday, maybe I´ll publish 2 chaps on Monday.**

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** Thank you, my loyal reviewer. It really means something to me that you marked my story as one of your favorites. I don´t think I used okay this time and thanks for the advice. And also thankyou for waiting patiently for this chapter.

 **Thank you to all who are still reading this even though I couldn´t keep my promise. Like I said, MAYBE I´ll make it up to you by posting 2 chapters on Monday. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"What!?" Joe exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Sallie asked.

"Just what I said," Mandie replied.

"When did that happen?" Joe asked.

"Last night, right before I was going to bed," she said.

"How did it happen?" Joe asked her again.

"Well, it goes like this: I was turning off the lights and when I did, I saw a light coming from underneath the doorway. Sallie and Celia were already asleep, so I decided to go out and investigate. When I finally went outside, the man was just turning off the lights and was quickly going down the stairs. I followed him and he jumped out a window, so I did the same. I made sure that he wasn´t aware that he was being followed. He seemed to be wandering around. First, he was headed opposite of the ocean, then he sat on a bench right in front of the ocean. He waited there for what seemed like hours. Then, finally, a woman came and sat next to him. The both sat there for quite a while without saying anything. Then the man asked the lady about someone coming. A woman. He asked, ´Do you think she will come?´ I don´t know who he was talking about. Then he asked her again if she thought someone would figure out if something was a setup. I don´t know what he was talking about, but since he came out from the Pattons´ house, I assume that he was referring to someone knowing about a setup that had to do something about this mystery. And, the same night that Jonathan said he had a strange dream, was the first night that I saw a light outside. At first, I thought it was an illusion, but now I _know_ it wasn´t," she finished.

"I guess it´s true, then?" Joe said after analyzing all the information Mandie had just given him.

"What is?" she asked him.

"The clues come to you, you don´t hunt for them."

"Umm… Haha," she gave a nervous laugh. "I guess so."

"So this morning, you weren´t out walking?" Sallie questioned, "you were still outside after making your discovery."

Mandie just stood there. She didn´t say anything.

"Mandie?" Joe wanted to know.

"Yeesss," she said slowly. "I fell asleep while I was spying on those people. This morning I woke up and rushed over to the house. I saw you when you and Celia were going downstairs for breakfast. I ran to out room and changed, quickly" she explained.

"Is there anything else that we should know?" Sallie asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Umm… No, I don´t think so," Mandie said hesitantly. Was there something that she should tell them about? Nothing that she could remember. "All I think we should do," she said, "is not tell Tommy about this. Not Tommy, not his family, nobody."

"Why?" Joe asked.

"Mandie´s right," Sallie agreed with her. "I´ve been thinking, if what Mandie heard is true, that this is a setup, the less people know that we´re investigating, the better."

"I get it," Joe said. "So, what are we going to do about it?"

"I think I have a plan," Mandie said thoughtfully.

* * *

"Mandie? Are you sure about this?" Sallie questioned Mandie in a whisper. Her grandfather was often reminding her to be careful, and also reminding Mandie most of the time to think, then act.

"Absolutely!" she said without showing hesitation in her voice. _Oh, come on, Mandie! Couldn´t you have come up with a better plan. A safer one._ She thought to herself.

The two girls opened the door quietly, making sure not to wake up Celia. They tiptoed to the stairs where they had agreed to meet Joe.

"I hope Joe does remember on what time we agreed on," Mandie said quietly.

"I hope that he doesn´t fall asleep," Sallie said while they both waited for him.

"Have I ever failed you?" Joe asked from behind them.

Both Mandie and Sallie gasped quickly but then remembered to hush their tones.

"Joe Woodard!" Mandie scolded. "Don´t ever do that again! At least not while we´re trying to spy on someone."

"You frightened us!" Sallie added.

"Sorry to have scared you girls," he apologized remembering to keep quiet. "So what´s the plan?" he asked. "We go to the same spot you went last night, right?"

"Yeah, but if we spot anybody we follow whoever they are," she replied.

"And, what exactly are we looking for?" Joe asked again.

"Clues," Mandie answered.

"But, the you don´t find the clues, the clues come to you," Joe smiled.

Mandie looked away hiding her blushing face.

"Let´s get going," she said still hiding.

"Alright!" Joe agreed while he smiled at Mandie. _I love you,_ he thought.

The trio silently went down the stairs. Mandie indicated with her hand to head towards a specific window. It was rather small, but large enough for a slim man to barely be able to pass through it. It was also low enough to jump from the window to the ground outside.

"I´ll go first," Mandie whispered back to the small group.

"No!" Joe protested. "I´ll go first."

"Joe," Mandie put her hand over his heart on his chest, "I´ve already been through here. I know how to land on the other side," she said calmly.

"Mandie should go first," Sallie defended her. "Like she said, she´s already been through that window. We might need her help."

"Fine," Joe agreed hesitantly.

Mandie slid out first. She landed silently.

"Come on!" she called to Sallie.

"I´m coming," she called back.

Sallie landed softly on the ground as if she were an expert. She had changed to clothes that did not have colored beads to not make any noise.

"Your turn, Joe," Sallie said after she walked a short distance away from the window.

Joe lost his balance when he hit the ground and almost fell if it weren´t for Mandie who extended her arm. Joe grasped it and pulled himself close to Mandie. They were face to face. Mandie´s breath was unsteady. She felt butterfly in her stomach.

 _Could I kiss her on the cheek,_ he wondered. He leaned close to her. He came closer and closer to her cheek. Then he stopped. He moved up and whispered into her ear, "Let´s get going and find that villain."

Mandie sighed a sigh of relief inside her head. But she was also curious for what Joe would have done. "Yeah," she agreed quickly gasping for breath. There were still some butterflies left in her stomach.

Sallie was already walking ahead of them.

"Are we going?" Sallie turned back and asked them.

"Umm… yeah, I think we should get going," Joe said still a little startled that he had done something very daring. _Well, almost,_ he thought.

"Let´s say out verse, first," she said.

"Sure," they both agreed.

Together they recited Mandie´s favorite verse, Psalms 56:3, "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee," they finished.

"Let´s go now," Mandie said.

"Where did you go last night?" Joe asked her.

"Like I said, the man just sort of wandered around. He really wasn´t going anywhere until he finally reached the ocean. He sat on a bench and I think I can remembering seeing the city lights far off in a distance," she answered his question. "Then he just sat there and waited. I also remember looking for Tommy´s house. It was really far away. I could barely see it."

"But where was the bench?" Sallie inquired.

"That´s the thing," she paused, "I don´t remember."

"Oh," was all they could say.

"So… what are we going to do now?" Sallie asked.

"Let´s just wander around. I think I can remember which side of the mansion I was seeing. It was that side," she said pointing to the right side of the house. "So maybe we should walk over there."

"I´ll just follow you girls," Joe said putting his hands in his pockets.

Together they started heading for the ocean. They walked close to each other and heard the crunching sand under their feet.

"It´s starting to get a little chilly," Sallie remarked while she hugged herself.

"Yes, it is," Mandie added.

"Nothing like a night in the Nantahala Mountains," Joe remarked. "I remember when your father would come home with Uncle Ned after they had gone hunting and we would eat fresh venison around the fire and Uncle Ned would tell us old Cherokee stories."

"Yes," Mandie´s thoughts wandered off to the times when her father was still alive. The pain of his passing was still in her heart.

"My grandfather would tell me stories also," Sallie said.

The young people stopped talking and just listened to the rolling waves of the ocean. But soon, voices were combined in those waved.

"Wait!" Mandie stopped.

"What is it?" Joe asked her.

"Did you hear that?" she asked him.

"Hear what?" Sallie asked.

"Voices…" her voice wandered off.

"I hear them!" Sallie said a little excitedly.

"I don´t," Joe said. "Wait, now I do!" he also exclaimed.

"Where are they coming from?" Mandie asked herself out loud.

"Over there!" Joe pointed to a far off bench.

"Where? I don´t see anything," Mandie said.

"It´s a little far from here, and you can barely see it in the dark," he said, "but if you look closely, you can see."

Mandie tried to find whatever Joe had seen. She struggled to concentrate but then she finally saw it.

"Yes!" she whispered in excitement. "There´s a woman, with a man!" she described them to Sallie who still hadn´t been able to find them.

"I see them now!" Sallie told them after being able to find them.

"Let´s get closer," she suggested.

"No!" Joe protested.

"Why not? I want to hear what they´re saying," she said.

"I think we should stay right here," Sallie sided with Joe.

Mandie looked at both of them. First at Joe. Then she turned to Sallie. Finally, she looked at them at the same time.

"Fine, if you don´t want to come, then I´ll go on my own," she decided and without giving them time to answer she hurried off while Joe and Sallie just stood there not knowing what to do.

Mandie was already too far away. If they called after her, the two people would hear them and that would give away Mandie´s location.

"No!" Joe whispered after her, but he knew it was no use. "I guess we´ll have to go after her," Joe said while turning to face Sallie, but she too was already going after her.

"Come on!" Sallie turned to him and whispered loudly enough for only him to hear.

Together they followed Mandie to wherever she was headed. At least they _tried_ to follow her. Fog started to form in the already dark night and trying to find Mandie in that darkness became impossible.

"Mandie! Where are you?" Joe and Sallie often asked aloud.

After a while of searching, Sallie said: "I think we´re getting closer to the two people Mandie saw. Maybe we should be quiet now."

"But—"

"Shhhh," she quickly shushed him.

"What—" this time she put her hand over his mouth.

He tried to take her hand off, but she was firm.

"Don´t. Move." She whispered into his ear. "And don´t talk."

She finally took her hand off.

"I can´t see—"

"What did I tell you?" she shushed him again. "Let´s go over to that tree," she started walking. "You can talk there."

Joe followed her, but when they were almost there, he suddenly stumbled.

"Ow!" he heard someone whine.

"Wait, Sallie! Where did you go?" he asked desperately. He had lost sight of her.

"Thanks a lot!" Mandie said sarcastically. "Now help me up!" she extended her hand when Joe was already up.

Joe pulled her up and asked her where she had been.

"Oh! Since you two didn´t want to come with me, I decided to come over here by myself. The two people just left. The lady that was here forgot her purse and I was waiting to make sure that she wouldn´t come back because I wanted to go and get her purse to see if she had anything of valuable information in there. You know, like some instructions of something like that. Anyway, where is Sallie?" she asked him.

"Oh, I don´t know. She was just right here, with me," he explained. " I was following her and then I tripped over you," he finished.

"Well, let´s go get that purse before the lady returns," she started to go off but Joe quickly caught up to her.

"What exactly do you plan to do?" he asked her when she reached the bench and started to pull out things from the purse.

Mandie pulled out an envelope with a letter inside.

"Read this," she said pointing to the letter which read:

 _For Ms. Olivia Blakely_

 _Please read this carefully and with secrecy_

* * *

 **What did you think? Was it worth the wait, (NO, haha, I know it wasn´t) Is there anything you would like to see in the future chapters? Thank you for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Merry Merry Christmas! I hope you had an amazing day full of family and friendship. I said that I would try to post 2 chaps on Monday, but since it´s Christmas, I thought I could post today and not tomorrow. Maybe this could be my little Christmas present to you. I haven´t finished the next chapter, well, I haven´t even started it, but I hope to start it today and hopefully finish it tomorrow or on Tuesday. Thanks for reading and here´s chapter 6!**

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** Thanks a lot for not hating me, lol. And I LOVE your profile. (Especially when you said you really like Miraculous, haha, ;D)

"Wait! Let me see that," Joe tried to grab the letter from Mandie unsuccessfully.

"Let me read it first," she argued.

Joe waited patiently but he couldn´t resist and begged Mandie to read it aloud.

"Fine!" she said a little irritated. "This is what it says:

 _Ms. Blakely,_

 _I am already putting you in great danger by writing your name on this letter, but I knew of no other way to be able to communicate this information to you. I would like to address the reasons for this note and very quickly state that this mission must be done with secrecy and must be done in the most discrete manner as possible._

 _If you find yourself in a public place, put this note away, and go somewhere else. You must not take any risk. For all we know, the girl could already be on to you. Perhaps even Monsieur Durand. If M. Durand has told you anything in your midnight meetings, I assume you know how little time we have left. If everything we have heard, and what other agents say about her is true, we must do everything we can possibly do to "examine" her. I insist that you do this work as quickly as possible. Thank you._

When Mandie finished reading, Joe was expecting more.

"What?! That´s it?" he asked surprised.

"Yes," Mandie seemed a bit surprised herself. "It doesn´t have any signature or name. Except, of course, Ms. Blakely."

"And Monsieur Durand, whoever that is," Joe added. "Let me see that!" he grabbed the letter from her hands.

He quickly scanned it over, turned it around to make sure they weren´t missing anything and then gave it back.

Mandie put it in the envelope again and said: "Now we know that Ms. Olivia Blakely is _not_ the person she says she is. I wonder is Mr. and Mrs. Patton know that," she stated.

"And I wonder who this "girl" is," Joe said. "They never mention her name. All they say is that she is essential to something."

"And I plan to find out what that something is all about," Mandie declared.

Mandie´s thoughts drifted off to the far off space thinking of every possibility that this mystery could hold.

"Where did you say Sallie was?" Mandie asked, once she was back from her thoughts.

"Oh, right! Sallie," Joe thought. "The last time I saw her, was when a tripped over you, and then, I lost sight of her," he finished.

"So I guess we´ll have to find her in the darkness," she said.

"I guess so," Joe replied.

"Well, we better get started or else, we´ll end up in the house really late and tomorrow is going to be a big day full of activities."

"Why´s that?" Joe asked her.

"Earlier today, Tommy commented that he would like to show us around town. He thought we´d like to see some sight-seeing and his parents plan to take us to out to dinner," she explained.

"Oh, I see," he said.

"I think we should start heading back to the house, and maybe we´ll catch up to Sallie. If she couldn´t find you either, I´m sure she must of headed to the house," she said thoughtfully.

"You´re right, but maybe she´s waiting for us at the spot where you left us," he suggested.

"That makes sense," she agreed. "So then maybe, we should head back, but stop there on the way to see if she´s waiting for us there."

"I think that´s exactly what we should do."

Both, Mandie and Joe, walked silently for a while but then started chattering a little from time to time.

"What do you make out of this?" Joe asked her at one time.

"Well, I really don´t know what to think. It´s all too, too complicated. I think that maybe it _is_ a setup. I don´t think Ms. Blakely and the other man are being very secretive," she responded.

"Yes, I´ve thought of that. They aren´t being very careful. I mean, look at this," he said pointing to the small purse Mandie was holding, "Mr. Blakely didn´t even remember to take her purse with her."

"Mm-hmm," was all Mandie said.

They were almost at the site where they thought Sallie might be waiting for them, when Mandie noticed that no one was there.

"Look, Joe," she pointed to the place. "Sallie isn´t there."

"I thought that she would be," he said confused.

"Maybe she just got tired of waiting and went back to the house," Mandie suggested.

"Maybe," Joe said.

"It´s starting to get chilly," Mandie remarked when they were almost at the house.

"Do you want my vest?" Joe offered.

"No thanks, I´m fine," she refused his offer.

When they got to the house, they circled around to find the window which they had left open.

"I can´t find the window, can you?" Mandie asked Joe, while she was looking for it.

"Nooo," he said slowly. "I can´t either. Maybe it´s on the other side of the house," he suggested.

"No!" she was stubborn. "It _has_ to be around here somewhere. I remember seeing that side of the garden from here," she remarked.

"Yes…" his voice drifted off, "now that you mention it, I agree. It must be around here somewhere."

They looked and looked. Mandie scanned all the windows fiercely. Joe searched some more and even walked once around the house. But they found nothing. It seemed that all the windows were closed.

"Look!" Mandie had spotted something hanging from a window. "It looks like a ribbon, hanging from that window," she pointed to a small window which was close to the ground.

"Why!" Joe exclaimed. "That´s the window we´ve been looking for this whole time!" he remarked.

"I do believe it is!" Mandie said with excitement in her voice. "That´s good, because I was starting to get sleepy."

"Yeah, and it´s starting to get colder. But what is that blue thing hanging down," he asked. "It looks like it´s in between the window and the windowsill."

"It looks like a ribbon of some sort," she went closer to examine. She started to push on the window so they could get inside and to take out the ribbon. "Oh no!" she winded with worry in her voice.

"What is it?" Joe came close and asked.

"I think the window´s locked," she said.

"What!? No! That can´t be. Sallie make sure to leave it open," he said.

"Well, it looks like Sallie is already in the house. This ribbon is her hair ribbon. I remember seeing her wear it. I think she left it here to let us know that she´s already here. Maybe she got here long before and got tired of waiting," she suggested.

"Yes, I think so too. She must already be inside," Joe agreed with her.

"But how do we even get inside?" Mandie was still worried.

"Oh, I´m sure it´s open. Maybe you just didn´t push hard enough," he said.

"Well, you try," Mandie said, making way for him.

Joe tried and tried, and pushed and pushed, but no matter what he did, the window wouldn't budge.

"Let me try again," he tried not to sound worried.

Again, he tried, but there was no hope.

"It´s no use," Mandie was stressing out.

"We´ll find a way in," Joe assured her.

Together they walked around the house searching and hoping for a way in. When they were rounding the corner, Mandie thought she saw something trying to find its way back into the house too.

"Wait!" Mandie said in a hushed tone. "Did you see that?" she asked Joe.

"What?"

"Someone was trying to find their way into the house too," she explained a little excited.

"Where!" Joe asked.

"Come on, whoever that was, was just around the corner," she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her back to where they had been.

Together, very carefully, the two of them peeked around the corner to see Mr. Jacob taking out a key from his pocket very silently and then inserting it into the front door lock.

"Look!" she pointed. "I wonder where he´s been and what he´s been doing this late out at night," Mandie commented.

"I bet he´d say the same about us," Joe smiled down at Mandie.

"Let´s wait for him to go inside so then we can follow and finally be able to go to bed," she was starting to have hope again.

"Sure," Joe agreed.

They both waited long enough for Mr. Edwards to go inside and not see them entering.

"I think we´ve waited long enough," Joe remarked.

"Maybe a little more," Mandie argued.

The waited a tiny bit more but they couldn´t resist and finally hurried off towards the door.

"Mandie," Joe began to say when they were getting closer to the door, "didn´t it ever occur to you that perhaps Mr. Edwards locked the door?"

"Why did you have to say that!?" Mandie whined. "He _did_ lock the door! Now what are we going to do?"

"Oh no!" Joe reach for the door handle. "Let me try," he offered.

"It´s no use!" Mandie wined. Joe though she was very close to tears.

"Don´t worry," he tried to remain calm, "we´ll just have to find another way in."

"There is none!" she was desperate.

"I´m sure there is," he reassured her. "Come on. We´ll walk around the house some more," he said and took her hand.

They walked, hand in hand, around the house hoping to find a way in. After what seemed like hours and hours of walking around and around, Joe thought he spotted a small window open. The only problem was, that the window was on the second story.

"Look, Mandie!" Joe said and pointed to the small open window. "I think that´s an open window."

Mandie looked up to where he was pointing and let out an exhausted blow.

"I can´t do that!" she complained. "I´m too exhausted to even move a finger!"

"We either climb up there or we stay outside for the rest of the night," he told her.

"And how are we supposed to do _that_?" she asked him.

"I guess we can find a way to climb up there. Let´s just hope that´s no ones bed room," he said sarcastically.

"Well, let´s get started then," she said, still with complain in her voice.

"Right. So, we´ll go up from that side… put your foot here… grab that over there…" Joe instructed her what to do.

"I´m almost there!" Mandie said excited while she was still climbing. Joe wasn´t far behind her.

"Just pull yourself up to the window," was the last thing Joe told her to do. "I´ll be right behind you."

When Mandie was inside, Joe pulled himself up and was glad that they weren´t in anyone's bedroom.

"I´m glad this is only the hallway," Joe commented.

"Yes, but I´m afraid we´re on the other side of the house," she said, "and I have no idea how to go back to where we´re staying."

"Let´s just go down stairs and I think we should know the way from there, specially if we find the kitchen. I could go from my room to the kitchen even if I were blind," he joked.

"Very funny. I wonder what time it is," she murmured to herself.

"Hmmm, me too."

"Let´s find the stair and go down, from there we´re bound to find our way," she agreed with Joe.

Both of them found their way to the stair and then followed them down. After Joe identified the way towards the kitchen, Mandie was able to guide Joe and herself towards their stairs. When they reached the foot of the stairs, they found Sallie fast asleep.

"Sallie," Mandie shook her shoulder. "Sallie!" she shook harder.

"What?" Sallie was able to murmur in her sleep.

"Sallie, wake up," Mandie nudged her again.

With great difficulty Sallie managed to open her eyes. "Oh, Mandie! Joe!" she quickly got up and hugged Mandie. "Where have you been?" she asked them. "I´ve been so worried about you," she said.

"We´ve been outside, on a _great_ adventure!" Joe winked at Mandie.

"Oh! Do tell me where you have been," Sallie pleaded.

"But, what were you doing on the stairs, and asleep?" Mandie wanted to know.

"Well, when Joe and I were going to find you, at one time, he managed to get lost. After that I figured that both of you would come back to the house, whether you were together, or alone. I decided to leave my hair ribbon, so you could know that I was already here. I went to bed, and I waited for you there wide awake, but after you didn´t come soon, I came back downstairs and waited here, but I think I fell asleep," she smiled.

"I think you did," Mandie laughed a little.

"So, it´s your turn to tell your story. Where were you?" she asked afterwards.

"Well, it´s kind off a long story," Joe chuckled. "It starts like this," he began, "when we got separated was because I tripped over Mandie…" when he finished relating his part, Mandie began to tell her part.

"And then we had to circle around the whole house because the window was locked," Mandie explained excitedly.

"Oh no!" Sallie said. "So, coming down here wouldn´t of done any good because the window wasn´t open."

After all three of them finished telling their stories, they all agreed that going to bed was a good idea. They walked up the stairs and Joe said goodnight to the girl just before entering his room.

"Wait," Sallie told Mandie before she could open the door to their room.

"What?" she asked with curiosity.

"Did you get some time with Joe?" she asked. "You know, like when he tried to kiss you when he jumped out the window?"

"What?! How do you know _that_?" she asked surprised.

"Well… Did he?"

"No," she paused, "but, I did find a letter addressed to Ms. Blakely," she said slyly.

"Let me see!" Sallie forgot all about Joe.

"Here, let me find it," Mandie rummaged through her bag. "Here it is," she gave it to Sallie who quickly read it.

"Well, this is just… amazing!"

 **Tell me what you think and Merry Christmas! I hope your vacations are amazing and wonderful. Oh! just curious, What is you favorite Mandie book? I don´t know which one I prefer because I haven´t read all of them. I think my favorite would either have to be The Trunk´s Secret or Seaside Rendezvous or Dark Alley or Foreign Spies or…. Hahaha, you get me, I can´t decide. I read most of the Mandie books a LONG LONG time ago. Probably like 7 or 8 years ago, so I can´t really remember what most of them are about. Again, Merry Christmas! Bye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, hello, my beautiful friends, you amazing people. I´m really sorry for not updating on time, but, saying sorry won´t make it up to you, right? I do have an excuse though! I was too busy celebrating New Year. (is that an excuse?) anyway, my mom wanted me to help her in the kitchen and yeah. We also spend the weekend up at my grandmother´s almost every weekend and I really don´t have time to write up there, (besides the fact that her wifi is TERRIBLE. ABSOLUTLY TERRIBLE. So that´s why I want to change UPDATE DAY to Wednesdays. And…Happy New Year! I hope you have an AMAZING year, with lot´s of new and exciting things. Of course, there are always birthdays to look forward to, vacations, holidays, maybe new family members, weddings, etc. I´ve already started my new Mandie FanFic (no, it does not mean I have the whole Pirate´s Secret written down yet, sorry) and you probably want to get down to the story already, so, the reviews:**

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** As always, thanks for your reviews. Happy New Year!

* * *

"Hi," Mandie told Celia who seemed not to pay attention. "Hello," she repeated.

"Oh, Hi!" Celia said startled.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course! Why?" Celia seemed cheery, though Mandie could notice she was faking.

"No, you're not," she said plainly.

"I guess I´m just a bit tired," she argued.

"Celia, you´re my best friend. We´ve known each other for two years now, and I can tell when something is wrong, so, what is wrong?" Mandie started to lift her voice.

"Mandie…" Celia hesitated to speak.

"What?" Mandie pressed.

"It´s just, will you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Mm-hmm," Mandie nodded her head up and down and then slightly shook it without Celia noticing.

She sat down by Celia on the couch close to her and made sure that no one was around.

* * *

 **Earlier that day**

"Hey, what´s this?" Jonathan asked his group of friends when he started to lift the chess board off the table.

"What´s what?" Celia asked him with curiosity.

"This," he said pointing to the bottom of the chess set.

"Let me see that," Tommy said.

"Hmmm…" Jonathan examined the paper which seemed to be taped onto the back of the board. "It looks like it´s an envelope taped onto—"

"We can see that!" Celia was impatient. "Just open it and find out what´s in it!" she exclaimed.

"Patience, patience, my good friend," Jonathan turned his view upwards to her.

Celia just glared at him with earnest in her eyes.

"What´s in it?" Tommy was also impatient to know.

Just to annoy them, Jonathan started imitating a sloth, making every movement last a life time.

"Hurry—" Celia started to say, but Jonathan interrupted her with a warning glance.

Both Tommy and Celia crossed their arms and stared a Jonathan.

"Fine," he gave up. He quickened up his pace a little and soon they were able to see what was inside the envelope.

"What does it say?" Tommy asked.

"Let me read it!" Celia grabbed the letter from Jonathan not willing to wait anymore.

"Read it aloud," Tommy suggested.

"This is what it says," she said while scanning through the letter quickly.

 _Mr. and Mrs. Patton,_

 _Things are progressing as expected. As we said before, we have our own reasons for wanting to help you. We have gained some information that may help you. If we continue making progress at the same rate, we think that this will be solved before Sunday. If you wish to know this information, you know where to find us._

 _-Anonymous_

 _TMIB_

"What?!" Tommy exclaimed. "Let me see that!" he grabbed the letter from Celia. He murmured some of the letter aloud and checked it at least twice before whispering to himself, "No…" his voice wandered off. "What does this mean?"

"Let´s see…" Jonathan started counting the days till Sunday with his fingers. "Today is Friday, so that means we have… exactly two days before it´s Sunday," he paused to think again. "I just wished that they would specify the place where they´re going to meet," his thought wandered off.

Meanwhile, Celia was trying to calm Tommy down telling him that he shouldn't worry too much.

"But, look!" he said, pointing to the letter. "It´s directed to my parents!"

"No worries, I´m sure we´re misunderstanding it all…" she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Just," he stammered. "Don´t tell Mandie."

"Why not?" she´s an expert in solving mysteries.

"Because—"

"What´s all the fuss about?" Jonathan interrupted them after he had finished thinking. "What´s so intriguing about that letter?"

"Don´t you see?" Celia yelled loudly, but calmly, "it´s directed to his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Patton," she pointed out.

"But, whoever the letter´s from, they said they´re helping for their own benefit, so they _must_ be the good guys," he concluded. "And—" Jonathan wasn´t able to finish before being interrupted by Sallie, Mandie, and Joe at the entrance of the parlor.

Celia quickly have Jonathan a look and whispered, "Don´t tell Mandie about this."

"Why not?" he asked.

Celia just glared at him.

"Right!" he quickly composed himself.

"Hello," Sallie called from the doorway. "What have you been doing?" she asked them.

"Oh! We´ve been playing chess. Just that!" Jonathan said in his usual cheery voice.

"That´s nice!" Mandie said. "Weren´t you going to go swimming?" she asked them.

"Yeah, we were," Jonathan started to say, "but we were waiting for Joe and then Tommy´s parents told him that we were going to go sightseeing today," he explained.

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Sallie said.

"Yes, it does. Where are we going to?" Joe asked.

"Well, Tommy´s parents haven´t decided yet, but after that, they plan to take us out to dinner," Celia explained.

"I´m looking forward to it," Mandie said.

* * *

 **Later**

"Before you came into the room, we found the letter," Celia was telling Mandie. "I don´t know why Tommy didn´t want to tell you," she said, "but I think you ought to know. You´re the one who always solves the mysteries anyway," Celia smiled.

Mandie chuckled a bit, and said, "Well, I do have help from friends sometimes."

"What do you think?" Celia asked her.

"About what?"

"About the letter, silly."

"Oh! About the letter. Well, I don´t think Tommy´s parents are involved in anything. The letter said that they were helping them for their own benefit, but, I do wonder, what could _TMIB_ mean?" she thought.

"It could be the place where they´re going to meet," Celia offered her thoughts.

"Or, it could be the initials of something," Mandie said.

"Yess…" Celia said slowly while thinking what it could mean.

The girls were still thinking when Sallie came into the parlor.

"There you are!" Sallie exclaimed. "I´ve been looking for you. I wanted to know when we´re leaving so I can get ready."

"Oh, I forgot about going out already!" Mandie came back to the present.

"Hmm… that´s a good question. I really don´t know," Celia told Sallie. "I think we should ask Mrs. Patton," she suggested.

"Yes, I think we should," Mandie agreed. Mandie looked at Celia and made signs with her look that she was going to let Sallie know about the letter that they had found earlier. Celia quickly shook her head and opposed, but Mandie didn´t mind her.

"Sallie! You´ll never guess what kind of discovery Celia made!" she motioned for Sallie to sit down. "Along with Tommy and Jonathan, of course," she added.

"What?" Sallie asked feeling instantly attracted to the story and to hear all about it.

"Mandie…" Celia whined softly, while Mandie didn´t even turn to look at her.

"Tell me all about it," Sallie was desperate to hear the news.

"Well, it goes like this: Jonathan and Tommy were playing chess and suddenly they found a letter stuck to the bottom of the chess set…" Mandie related the whole story to her with every detail and stopped only to catch her breath, while Celia, who was siting besides her, was making faces at Mandie the whole time without any success. Neither Mandie, nor Sallie, noticed when Mrs. Patton came into the room.

"Oh, Mrs. Patton! I´m so glad— _we´re_ so glad to see you," Celia looked up immediately after Mrs. Patton came into the room. "We were wondering when we would go sightseeing, so we have enough time to get ready," Celia explained.

"Oh, I´m very sorry, but I thought Tommy had told you already," Mrs. Patton apologized, "but I´m afraid that the plans got canceled. We´ll go tomorrow though. I think we´ll leave around this time tomorrow, and we´ll take you downtown, and maybe you girls, will want to do some shopping," she said. "How about that?" she searched their faces for approval.

"Oh, that´s fine," Mandie turned to see Mrs. Patton hoping that she hadn´t overheard them. "I think I would like to rest today anyway. I´m a bit tired," she explained.

"Oh dear, I do hope you´ve had enough rest or else you could get sick," she worried.

"No worries at all, Mrs. Patton, I feel perfectly fine! I couldn´t be better!" she said trying to calm Mrs. Patton, "I enjoy the warmth and the sunshine."

"Well, I do hope the rest of you are fine with the change of plans," she said.

"Of course," Sallie was quick to reply. "I agree with Mandie, I think we should rest today a bit," she winked at Mandie thinking of their midnight discovery yesterday, or should she think, this morning.

"And you, Celia?" Mrs. Patton asked her, "you seem tired too. I suppose you were all up late last night talking," she smiled.

"Oh, no ma´am," Celia replied, "but umm… well, I guess I am tired too," she used that excuse to avoid telling her of the letter.

"You girls get some rest. I have to go with my husband to town and settle some business," she excused herself.

"Thank you for letting us know about the change of plans," Sallie called out.

"Of course, dear," she said waving a goodbye. "I´ll be seeing you all soon," was all she said and then exited the room.

"Mandie!" Celia finally said not caring if Sallie asked why she was upset.

"What´s wrong, Celia?" Sallie asked her, but Celia ignored her.

"Celia´s upset because I wasn´t supposed to tell anyone about the letter," Mandie explained.

"Actually," Celia corrected her, "no one was supposed to know about it," she finished.

"Then why did you tell me in the first place?" Mandie joked around. "Besides, I thought that Sallie should know. She does help a lot with mysteries, you know."

"Because I also thought you should know," Celia was starting to get irritated.

They´re discussion ended when the boys walked into the room. They looked like they were going to go out to the beach.

"There you are Mandie!" Tommy said. "We´ve been looking for you. My mother told me that there was a change of plans and apparently we won't be going downtown today," he explained to the three girls who were sitting down.

"Oh, yes! Your mother told us, but thanks anyway," Celia said.

"Where are you going?" Sallie was interested to know.

"Since there was a change of plans, we thought we could go swimming today," Joe replied.

"It does look nice outside," Mandie commented.

"You girls are welcome to come along, if you want to," Jonathan suggested.

"I thought I would go read a book, but reading outside in the sunshine sound far more exciting," Sallie quickly agreed to Jonathans suggestion.

"You know, I think I might tag along too," Mandie joined in.

"How about you, Celia?" Joe asked.

"Hmm…" she said thoughtfully. "I don´t know. It looks like it might be too hot outside," she looked out a small window.

"You can always bring a parasol," Mandie suggested.

"Well, I guess I´ll come too, since everyone will be going," Celia finally gave in.

The three girls quickly chose one or two books they wanted to read and Celia ran upstairs to get her parasol. After that, they all followed Tommy outside and while the boys were getting ready to swim, the girls sat down on some benches that were close enough.

After a while, Sallie quickly noticed Mandie staring at Joe.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked jokingly.

"What?" Mandie was startled.

"You haven´t even opened your book and I´m already on page twenty-one," she said.

"Oh, I guess I was just a little distracted," she made up an excuse.

"Distracted with what, or, better said, with _whom_?" Celia quickly joined into the conversation which seemed to be far more interesting that her book.

"What are you accusing me of?" Mandie said in an offended, but sarcastic, voice.

"Oh, well, we just thought that you might be a little too interested in _someone_ ," Sallie suggested to her friend.

Celia gave her a look telling her to admit that she was staring at Joe.

"Fine!" she gave up. "I _was_ staring at _someone_ ," she admitted, "and I´m not gonna tell you his name. But you probably know already," Mandie laughed.

* * *

"What are you looking at?" Jonathan teased his friend.

"Hmm?" Joe said, not caring whether his friends caught him staring at Mandie.

"I know who your staring at," Jonathan teased him again giving him a slap on the back. "You gotta admit, she _is_ very pretty."

Joe didn´t know if that was supposed to be meant as competition for him, or if it was just a comment, but all he could do was say, "She´s beautiful!"

* * *

 **I know it was kind off slow. Not much happened except the discovery that Celia, Jonathan, and Tommy made.**

 **I need your opinion. My goal for this year is to read at least 100 books. I tend to read really long books, so I don´t know if I´ll be able to read more that 100, but anyway, I need your recommendations. What books do you really really like? I prefer novels, but I read any type of books. I like Pride and Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables, Mandie, of course, The Book Thief, and stuff like that. Can you think of any books I might like? Thanks again for reading and Happy New Year!**

 **Oh! P.S. In chapter 6, when Mandie and Joe discover the letter in Ms. Blakely´s bag, the letter says something like "** _the girl could already be on to you. Perhaps even Monsieur Durand…_ **"** **when I reread it I understood it as, maybe even M. Durand was onto Ms. Blakely, but what I really meant and what it should say is "** _the girl could already be onto you. Perhaps she is even onto Monsieur Durand._ **"** **I hope you understand what I wanted to say, now.**


	8. Chapter 8

**HIII! Did you miss me? And guess what! I** ** _did_** **keep my promise this time. It´s Wednesday! Well, I was just thinking that I forgot some things that might have been essential to the story, but I completely forgot about them in the earlier chapters. First, Tommy´s sister. Have you been wondering where she is in the story? I just remembered her until now and I didn´t think I could include her into the story which is already developed. Anyway, I think she was older than Tommy, so I could say she went off to college and that she wanted to take some extra classes during the summer. But, if she** ** _is_** **younger that Tommy, let´s just say that she went to visit some cousins. You decide what you want to think. Now, to number two, Where is Snowball? He´s always coming to the rescue, but this time he won't be able to rescue Mandie when she finds herself caught in trouble (I just gave you a little spoiler there) I guess someone else will have to go and rescue Mandie. I don´t remember what I did with Snowball. Did I ever mention him in the story? I don´t think so, but I´m too lazy to go and read all the 7 chaps.**

 **Someone noted that Celia was a bit off and I have to admit, I never really liked Celia. She´s just Mandie´s best friend who is really protective of her and not adventurous (I liked Celia in Seaside Rendezvous though) and if I dislike a character, I tend to make them more unlikable. Also, some people were a bit confused at Celia´s behavior in the last chapter on how she didn´t want Mandie to know about the letter, but then she told Mandie herself. I think that´s just because I don´t like Celia, lol, and I´ll admit that the last chap was a bit confusing. Mandie promised not to tell anyone and bla bla bla. So don´t mind the last chapter. It wasn´t that important to the story. Most of the things that I put in there were just to fill in the chapter, ´cause if you´ve noticed, I´m forcing myself to write at least 2,000 words so the chapters aren´t too short.**

 **Reviews:**

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** I´ll give you more Jomanda, I promise, and if not in Pirate´s Secret, I´ll make more Jomanda in other fics. I really like "Cupid and Psyche" so I´m sure I´ll love "Till We Have Faces". Thanks for the recommendations.

 **MandieFan:** Thank you so so so much for reviewing and I´m glad you like the writing style.

* * *

After they had all enjoyed the summer breeze, some enjoyed a book, and other enjoyed the cool splashing water around their bodies, they went inside ready to rest for the next day's activities.

The girl headed towards the parlor to enjoy some afternoon cookies while the boys went up to their rooms to change.

"I could eat all the cookie on that plate!" Jonathan was saying as they were leaving the girls in the parlor. "Be sure to leave me some," he called back.

"No! We won't," Mandie answered with cookies stuffed in her mouth.

"They´re so good I´m sure we´ll eat all of them," Sallie replied while reaching out to crab another one.

"Then I might as well as take some now," Jonathan returned to grab one or two.

Celia laughed at how greedy Jonathan´s stomach could be. "Don´t worry. I´ll be nice and I might leave one or two for you," she said.

"Couldn´t you leave at least five for each of us?" he begged with puppy eyes.

"I´ll think about it," she smiled at him.

When the boys had left, Celia noticed that Sallie and Mandie were giggling together.

"What are you two laughing about?" Celia wanted to know, not suspecting anything.

"Celia," Mandie said slyly, "is it possible that you might like Jonathan?" she asked.

"And is it also a possibility that Jonathan likes you?" Sallie added.

Celia blushed. "No, we´re just friends," she said.

"Uh-huh," Mandie said.

"Besides, didn´t you say that Robert was my _suitor_ when we first got here?"

"Something like that," Mandie replied. "But, perhaps you have other suitors that we don´t know of," she suggested.

"Mandie! How could you think such a thing like that?" Celia was upset.

"Celia! Calm down. We were just joking," Sallie said, trying to calm things down.

"Yes, we were," Mandie confirmed what Sallie had just said.

* * *

"Well?" Jonathan asked Joe.

"Well what?"

"Did you talk to Mandie on the way back?" he asked again.

"No, I didn´t," Joe said plainly.

"Did she talk to you?" he wanted to know.

"No, she didn´t," he said plainly again.

"Why not?" he started bugging Joe.

"Why do you want to know?" Joe replied.

"Just because. And, by the way, I think we should start heading back down. We don´t want to be late for dinner, do we?"

"On that, I _have_ to agree," Joe said.

"Dinner won't be served until another half an hour, but if you insist on going down, we could always hand around with the girls," Tommy joined into their conversation.

"Sounds good to me," Joe answered.

"Let´s get down there, then. I do hope that the girls didn´t finish all the cookies.

"I don´t think Mandie is capable of eating more than five," Tommy said.

"Well, I´m capable of eating at least five," Jonathan said rubbing his hungry stomach.

The boys headed downstairs to where the girls were spending their time. They found them all on different couches. Celia was sitting down properly, with her ankles crossed, letting her light green dress rest perfectly on the couch, reading a book. Sallie was staring out a window, twirling her beaded hair in her fingers, with a book on her lap, slightly separated with her other set of fingers to mark her place. As for Mandie, she was lying on a sofa, not sitting liking a lady should at all, looking up at the celling and letting her imagination run wild.

"I suppose it´s time for dinner now?" Celia asked when she became aware of their presence in the room.

"Almost, but I suppose that we can start heading towards the dinning room now," Tommy replied to Celia´s question.

"Hi!" Mandie said when she realized that she was not alone with her thoughts anymore.

"Hello, mademoiselle," Jonathan said.

"Is it time for dinner?" she asked.

"Yes, it is. The best time of the day," Jonathan said.

Tommy led the way for the group to follow him to the dining room.

When they got there, Jonathan was the first to sit down and waited for the food to arrive not so patiently. The small group chatted a while, while waiting for the food.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Sallie asked with curiosity.

"Well, my parents figured we could get an early start, leave a little after lunch, and head to town. There, we´ll do some sight-seeing, you girls can do some shopping and then we´ll be having dinner down at the—"

"Food!" Jonathan exclaimed before Tommy could finish.

The girls just laughed at Jonathan and politely asked for the food to be served on their plates.

"I´ll take some potatoes, please," Celia said.

"Could you pass me the gravy," Mandie asked.

"I sure do hope there´s dessert!" Jonathan said.

"I´m sure there will be," Tommy confirmed.

"Do you happen to know what it is?" Joe asked him.

"No, probably some traditional South Carolina dessert," he said. "Mother wants you to try the best of our kitchen, but of course," he continued, "nothing compared to the chocolate cake Aunt Lou makes," he said winking at Mandie.

"I have to agree," she said. "There is _nothing_ like her chocolate cake."

"Why are you always thinking about food?" Sallie asked Jonathan.

"Because there´s nothing more beautiful or anything better that food," he smiled, "that´s why," he said.

The group talked about this and that, but they never reached as far as speaking one word about the mystery. They left it alone. They talked about their summer plans and what they expected to do back in school.

"I hope new girls and boys will go to school," Sallie said. "Many children still don´t go to the Cherokee school and many live too far away," she finished.

"When I go visit you and Uncle Ned and Morning Star, I´ll be sure to pay a visit to the school," Mandie said.

"Yes! I´m sure Dimar hopes you all go visit him soon. He´s missing out on all the fun," Sallie said cheerfully.

"How about dessert now?" Joe asked when he saw someone approaching them.

"That sounds good!" Celia agreed.

"Would you like some gelatin dessert, cake, or pie?" the maid asked.

"Heather!" Mandie was surprised. The maid seemed startled and confused.

"It´s me, Mandie. Remember?" she tried to get the maid to remember whom she was.

"Miss Amanda!" the maid exclaimed.

"Yes!" she said. "That´s me!"

"I was just serving dessert," she said.

"But, what are you doing here?" Mandie asked her. "I thought you were taking care of us," she said.

"Well…" the maid stammered, "Mrs. Holden told me to come and help in the kitchen," she said.

"I would like some gelatin, please," Celia said.

"And some cake for me," Jonathan piped in.

"I´ll take some pie," Tommy said. "I really like the pie that Holden makes. She´s our cook," he explained.

"I think I want pie also," Mandie said. "Oh! and call me Mandie," she told Heather.

"Hmm… some pie too," Joe agreed.

"And for you miss," Heather asked Sallie.

"Let me think," she said, tapping her temple, "I think the cake looks good. I´ll take the cake," she said.

When all of them had been served, they enjoyed their desserts and licked their spoons clean.

The rest of the day passed without something of much importance and when the girl went up to their room to rest, they fell sound asleep very soon, and this time, Mandie was too tired and sleepy to even care to glance at the doorway to see if there was any light coming from outside.

* * *

The next day, the young people were hurrying up with their lunch and getting ready to go outside and explore in the city. They were all impatient and anxious to get going and were very excited.

"I can´t wait till dinner time! I wonder what we´ll have?" Jonathan exclaimed.

"Can´t you ever think of anything else rather than your stomach?" Mandie asked him.

"Or food?" Celia joined in.

"Nope, I´m afraid I can´t, mademoiselles," he said with his usual mischievous grin.

"Well, I think we should get going now," Mrs. Patton called out to the young group who was waiting by the front porch. "The weather is perfect! And we do want to get an early start so we´ll have plenty of time to visit a few places and then you can have some free time and wander around town before we head to the restaurant," Mrs. Patton finished while she was getting ready herself and started walking down to the two carriages that were waiting for them.

"There´s eight of us, and only four people can fit in one carriage, so we´ll have to go in separate ones," Tommy told them while they were going down the front steps towards the carriages. "I´ll go with my parents and someone else will need to come along with us," he explained.

Celia volunteered to go with Tommy saying that she would love to get better acquainted with Mrs. Patton.

"I´ll go with you, Tommy," Celia offered.

"Great! I guess that´s settled then," Tommy said. "We´ll start off visiting Fort Moultrie," he said and then led the way for Celia to join him on the other carriage.

"We´ll see you there," Mandie called out.

"Ladies first," Jonathan said, letting Sallie and Mandie get in the carriage.

"Thank you," Sallie said when Jonathan helped her up.

Then the boys went in after the girls had and they started heading into town.

"Mrs. Patton was right!" Sallie commented. "The weather is perfect! It´s not to hot, but it´s sunny and the warmth feels good against my skin."

"Yes, I agree," Mandie said. "Though I do wish that I had brought a parasol."

"Well, I don´t think Fort Moultrie is too far away," Joe said. "I don´t think we have enough time to go to faraway places."

"Yes, I think he´s right," Jonathan joined into the conversation. "We will probably just visit three or four places and then the Mr. and Mrs. Patton will give us some free time."

"I´m curious about Fort Moultrie," Sallie said. "I wonder in which war it was used."

"I honestly don´t know," Mandie said while trying to remember if she had ever read about it in history books. "I don´t think they´ve ever taught is about Moultrie in school," she said.

"I don´t recall ever hearing of it either," Joe said.

"I guess we´ll just have to wait and see," Jonathan told them.

When they arrived the girls asked all sorts of questions and the boys were only interested in looking at the artillery and weapons.

"Come look at this," Jonathan would call out to Joe and Tommy once in a while when some weapon called his attention.

"And this," the girls heard the boys.

"They must be very excited," Mandie said.

"I´m sure they are," Celia replied.

"Then they must come and see the weapons that the Cherokee have," Sallie said. "I´m sure they would like that."

"And I´m sure that Jonathan would want to take archery lessons from your grandfather," Mandie joked.

"Yes, I´m quite sure about that too," Celia said.

"Hey Jonathan!" Mandie called out.

"Hold on a minute!" he called back while he was intensely studying an old cannon.

After a minute or two of the boys discussing about military and weapons, Jonathan finally remembered that Mandie had wanted to tell him something.

"What is it that you wanted?" he asked her.

"Well, how would you like to take some archery lessons from Uncle Ned?" she asked him patiently, but Jonathan could notice that she was irritated of waiting for him to answer.

"I´d love that!" he said, "but only as long as the lessons include food!"

Mandie couldn't resist and started laughing out loud. "I can assure you that there will be food," she answered. "Maybe you´d like to try some owl stew," Mandie said and winked at Sallie.

"Hmm… I don´t know. Someone said he didn´t like it," Jonathan laughed.

"Nope, he didn´t like it," Sallie laughed also.

Just then a lady walked right by Mandie and accidently shoved her a little out of the way.

"Oh, I´m sorry," was all the lady said and in a very quiet voice.

"Don´t worry!" Mandie called out, but the lady didn´t even turn to look at her.

"Hmm… that was awkward," she said.

"Yes, it was," Celia agreed.

* * *

 **Sorry for this slow chapter, again. I know the last one was a slow one too, but I promise, next chap will have more excitement.**

 **And if you remember the conversation in which Mandie and Sallie asked Celia if she liked Jonathan, I DO NOT plan to ship Celia and Jonathan. I just wanted to fill something in and if you have anything to say about the story so far, just let me know! Thanks for reading and**

 **Random Question:**

 **Who is your favorite character?**

 **I have to say that mine is Liza! She is soooo nice and funny and… she´s just Liza. I love how she´s always reminding Mandie that Polly is just her rival. "Dat Miss Preety Thang"**


	9. Chapter 9

**I´m so sorry! But I think you´ve heard enough apologies from me. I would give you some excuse, but I don´t have one. But, I DID post something on Wednesday. I posted a cover! Did you notice? I was too busy making the cover so I didn´t have time to finish writing chap 9. What do you think about the cover?! The top is supposed to say: "Midnight meetings, mysterious letters, intriguing people, and secret conspiracies" I know the top got cut off and I haven´t been able to change it. Anyway, here´s chap 9. Enjoy!**

 **CantDecideOnUnsername:** Thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoy! And I´ll try to keep in mind what you said.

* * *

When Mrs. Patton decided that they had had enough of Fort Moultrie they all went to the carriages and headed to John´s Island.

"Tommy told me that John´s Island is a place where we can go horse back riding and there´s a beach too," Joe commented.

"Then I´m sure Celia will love it," Mandie assured all of them.

"I think Mrs. Patton chose that place especially for Celia," Joe said.

"Does Celia have horses up in Richmond?" Sallie asked. "I think I heard her mention something like that," she finished.

"Yes. Yes, she does," Mandie replied.

"Her family business," Sallie started, "they breed horses, right?"

"Yes, I believe so," Jonathan said.

"I think they also give horse riding lessons, and stuff like that," Mandie clarified.

"I would _love_ to visit her home one day," Sallie said.

"Actually, Celia invited me to visit her up in Richmond this summer," Mandie stated, "maybe you could come along with me and we could go and visit her together."

"I would really like to go, but I don´t think I´ll be able to go," Sallie said sadly. "I promised Mr. O'Neal that I would help him, and my grandmother is also counting on me to return soon."

"Oh, I see," Mandie said with disappointment.

"How would you like to visit me up in New York?" Jonathan asked.

But before Mandie could answer the carriage stopped and they heard Mrs. Patton call out.

"We have arrived!" Mrs. Patton called back to the young group.

"Oh! Look at those horses!" Celia said with excitement in her voice.

"They _are_ beautiful," Mandie said while she was stepping down from the carriage.

"I can´t wait to go down by the beach," Sallie added.

"I really want to go and ride the horses," Celia said impatiently.

"Well, go along dear," Mrs. Patton urged her. "Take all the time you want, because after this we´ll be heading to town and you girls will be able to do some shopping," she finished.

Celia, who was quite excited, hurried off towards the horses with Tommy not far behind, while Mandie, Sallie, Joe, and Jonathan stayed behind and started chatting.

They were talking about what they would like to do on Monday, when a woman ran into Mandie, again.

"Oh dear!" the woman was saying, "I´ve been running into people all morning, I´m so sorry," she apologized again and again.

"No worries," Mandie said.

"Oh wow!" Sallie gasped. "You are the lady who ran into us earlier today!" she realized.

"Pardon?" the woman asked not quite understanding.

"You were at Fort Moultrie, right?" she asked.

"Yes, yes I was," the lady said still not realizing whom they were.

"We were there too," Sallie continued to speak to the woman, "and I believe it´s you who was there," she finished.

"My!" she finally realized. "Yes! There was an auburn-haired girl and you, am I right?" she asked Mandie.

"Yes!" Mandie exclaimed. "I didn´t realize whom you were, but Sallie did! She´s always quick to notice things," she said.

"I´m so sorry," the lady repeated. "And I wasn´t following you either," she added.

"Don´t worry about it," Mandie told the lady, "please don't."

"I´m Sallie," she introduced herself.

"And I´m Mandie, that´s what my friends call me," Mandie also introduced herself and stretched her arm out to shake hands.

"I´m Ruth," the woman said, accepting Mandie´s hand and shook it firmly. "I´m here visiti—" the woman was interrupted by someone calling her name.

"Aunt Ruth!" a boy around ten was running towards them with a slightly older girl who was trying to keep up with the boy.

"Oh! These are my niece and nephew," Ms. Ruth said.

The boy got there quickly, and the girl arrived soon after and trying to catch her breath.

"Say ´Hello´, Jack," Ruth instructed the small boy. "And you too, Ana," she turned to tell her.

"Hello," the boy extended his arm towards Joe and Jonathan. "I´m Jack," he said.

"And I´m Anastasia," the girl said, but did not make any signs of friendliness. Her voice was cold, and her eyes did not show happiness.

"My name´s Amanda, Mandie for short."

"And how old are you?" Jonathan said, leaning down a bit to look into the boy´s eyes.

"I´m ten!" the boy said proudly. "Almost eleven. I´ll be eleven in August."

"I´m Jonathan," he introduced himself, "and this is Joe up here," he said standing straight again.

"Anyway, we were here because we wanted to go ride the horses," the boy looked up into her aunt´s eyes. "Could we please go?" Jack asked.

"I don´t think so," Ruth said slowly. "We´re going to be leaving very soon," she said.

"Pleeeease," the boy begged with puppy eyes.

"Well… I guess you can ride around for a little while, but I don´t know if you sister will want to ride, and if she doesn´t ride, then you´re not allowed to ride. Remember what your mother said and what happened last time," she finished.

"I really don´t want to go, Aunt Ruth," Anastasia told her aunt with no emotion in her voice.

"I can ride with Jack!" Jonathan offered, "and Joe can come along too."

"That´s a great idea!" Joe said.

"No, I couldn´t ask you to," Ms. Ruth protested.

"We insist," Jonathan said.

"Yes, and besides, I would like to ride the horses. I haven´t ridden in a long time," Joe said.

"Well, then go along and be careful," Ruth said but the boys were already running of to ride some horses.

"Now, what shall we do while they´re gone?" Ruth said.

"Look!" Sallie said pointing to a food stand, "they have ice cream over there!"

"Oh! I haven´t had ice cream in a long time!" Mandie said. "Would you like to come along?" she asked Anastasia who was still not very friendly. "We won´t be eating until late today so I think a small snack would be okay," she said.

"Well…" Anastasia began, "could I have a small cone, Aunt?" she asked Ruth.

"Of course you can!" she said. "I think I´ll have small bite myself," she said rummaging through her purse to look for some money.

"So, what are you doing here?" Sallie asked her while they were heading to the food stand. "You began to say you were visiting, but you never got to finish."

"Oh! Right! I´m here visiting my sister. She was busy today, so I decided to take out Anastasia and Jack for a little walk," she said.

"Isn´t today a beautiful day?" Mandie asked her. "It´s just perfect!"

"Yes! I agree," Anastasia said with a more cheerful tone in her voice.

"How old are you?" Mandie asked trying to make friends with her.

"I´m fifteen. I´ll be sixteen in five months," she said plainly again.

"You´re not much older than me!" Mandie exclaimed. "I just turned fourteen about a week ago," she said.

"Where did you spend your birthday?" Ana asked her.

"I was down in Florida with my grandmother and Celia Hamilton. She´s a friend from school and she should be around here somewhere. She´s riding a horse now," she explained.

"I´ve never been to Florida," Ana stated. "Which part of Florida where you in?"

"We went to St. Augustine. I met Mandie and her family down there. We threw her a surprise party," Sallie joined into the conversation.

"Hmm…"

When they arrived at the food stand, everyone chose different flavors. Mandie chose vanilla, Sallie chose strawberry, Anastasia picked chocolate and Ms. Ruth just decided that she didn´t want ice cream after all.

"I´ll just sit by and watch," she said. "I don´t have much of a sweet tooth."

The three girls started chatting and Sallie and Mandie soon found out that Anastasia wasn´t the cold, unfriendly girl they thought she was. She turned out to be quite the chatter and it turned out she was only shy.

After a while they heard someone calling their names.

"Mandie! Sallie!" Mrs. Patton called.

"Over here Mrs. Patton!" Mandie started waving her hands.

"Oh! There you are!" Mrs. Patton called out.

She walked towards the four people and started talking.

"Hello, and whom have you met today?" she asked them. "Who are your new friends?"

"This is Ms. Ruth," Mandie presented her, "and this is her niece, Anastasia."

"Ana has a little brother, but he went on horseback riding with Joe and Jonathan. Ms. Ruth is visiting her sister, Ana´s parents," Sallie explained.

"Well, it was very nice to meet you, but I think we must go now," Mrs. Patton apologized for having to leave.

"Don´t worry at all, Mrs. Patton. We should be going too. We´ll be heading back to Ana´s house," Ruth said.

"We will be heading into town after this. We´ll be doing some shopping and we´re going to have dinner in town," Mrs. Patton explained.

"Mrs. Patton," Mandie protested, "I don´t know where Joe and Jonathan are. They should be riding out with Jack," Mandie said.

"I think, wait a minute! There they are!" Ana said pointing to a part of the woods.

"Oh! Joe! Jonathan! I´m glad you´ve arrived. Mrs. Patton said we´re going to be leaving now," Sallie called out.

"Good! ´Cause I´m getting hungry now!" Jonathan called out.

"Well, let´s go now," Mrs. Patton said when they had arrived and Mandie and Sallie had said their goodbyes to Ana, Ms. Ruth, and Jack.

"I hope we can see each other again!" Mandie told them.

"We´ll be in Charleston a bit longer. I think we might leave around Tuesday, or Wednesday," Sallie told them.

"Then I´m sure we´ll see each other around," Ms. Ruth said.

After they had left John´s Island, and were in town walking around, Celia only talked about the magnificent horse she had ridden and how beautiful it was and how precious her ride had been.

"I enjoyed it also, but not as much as Celia," Tommy joked.

"I´m sure you didn´t," Mandie laughed.

"What do you want to do, girls?" Mrs. Patton asked them.

"I think I would like to go window shopping, and who knows, I might find some nice dresses," Celia commented.

"Well then, that´s settled, we´ll all go shopping and Mr. Patton has to do some business in town so we´ll just leave him to it," Mrs. Patton decided.

When they had all gotten arranged and settled Mrs. Patton called out to her husband.

"Dear!" she said, "Around what time should we head to the restaurant?" she asked him.

"Well… I´d say in about two hours of so," he answered.

"Perfect," she told him, and then turning to the young people she said, "now, let´s head to some stores, shall we?"

They started following her and she said: "I happen to know a perfect place where we can enjoy walking around. It´s a street where there are a lot of fancy shops and all of that."

Mandie and Joe started to talk while Mrs. Patton went on and on about the fancy dresses and the street and about how pretty and nice and clean it was.

"So," Mandie started, "how did the riding go?" she asked. "Did you enjoy yourselves?"

"It was pretty nice, and Jack, he´s a nice little fellow," he said. "Jonathan was, like always, showing off," he laughed.

Mandie laughed and was interrupted by Jonathan who joined into the conversation.

"I did _not_ show off," he said. "Joe´s just jealous because I can ride better than him," he said turning to Mandie.

"Right," Joe just rolled his eyes and Mandie just continued to laugh.

"So," Mandie asked, "what was Jonathan showing off?"

"He was just being his usual self," Joe said and gave Jonathan a little punch.

"I think I know what you mean," Mandie smiled.

"What?!" Jonathan exclaimed pretending to be offended.

They kept talking and were suddenly interrupted by Celia who was telling them something which they didn´t understand because they were to busy in their own business.

"Hello!" Celia said while waving her hand right in front of their faces. "Hello!" she repeated.

"Oh! Sorry," Mandie apologized. "We weren´t paying attention," she excused herself.

"I can see that," Celia said and crossed her arms.

"So, what did you want to tell us?" Mandie asked.

"Well, Sallie and I are going to go into this shop," Celia told them and pointed to the shop that was right beside them.

"Oh, sure," Mandie said. "I´ll go along."

"What about you?" Celia asked the boys.

"Well, I guess we can go in," Jonathan said not too convinced that he wanted to go inside.

"Jonathan´s afraid there might be too much pink inside," Joe teased him.

"Very funny," Celia said plainly. "Just stay outside if you don´t want to come along," she told him and with that she left and went inside the shop.

"Well, come on," Mandie said motioning with her hand.

The boys followed her inside and found her looking at some stuff by the window.

Joe went and stood by her while Jonathan found a comfortable chair to sit in.

"What are you looking at?" he asked her.

"Nothing, just some dresses," she said.

"Do you want to buy anything?"

"No, I don´t think so," she said. "I think mother would like to do that with me."

"Right."

Mandie happened to look out the window and saw two people who were dresses in very dark clothes. The man was dressed in black from head to toe except for his white shirt which was covered by black coat. The woman was dressed in dark purple, so dark, it almost looked black.

"Hey!" she said.

"What?" Joe said, not quite sure what she was looking at.

"Doesn´t that look like the clothes Ms. Blakely was wearing?" she asked him and pointed to the two people she had spotted who were heading to a small alley.

"Yes, yes it does," Joe said with interest now.

"I wonder who the other man is," Mandie though out loud.

"Who?" Joe asked who had still not spotted the man.

" _That_ man," she pointed him out.

"Oh! I see him!"

"Wait!" Mandie said after watching them for a while, "That´s the butler!" she exclaimed but not loud enough for the rest of the group to hear.

"Wow! It _is_ him!" Joe realized after studying him.

"Common!" Mandie was already heading to the doorway. "Let´s follow them!" she said.

"Wait!" he reached out and grabbed hold of her arm. He was going to tell her that it was too dangerous and that they shouldn't go, but then she turned to look at him.

"What?" she asked.

Those eyes. How could he say "No" to her? He would just have to join in on her little adventure.

"Nothing," he said. "I´ll go along."

"Good, now let´s go, or else, we´ll get left behind," she said hurryingly.

"Let´s go then," he said.

The two left unnoticed and followed Mr. Jacob and Ms. Olivia into a small side alley.

* * *

 **I promised a little more excitement in this chap, but there still wasn´t enough, was there? But, in the next chapter, I PROMISE that there will be a lot more excitement! I´ve already got the next 4 chaps planned out, so I´ll keep my word. What did you think? Did you like it? After I reread it I thought it was kind of short, but oh well. Have a great weekend!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi! It´s Wednesday! I hope you like this chapter and to the reviews:**

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** Hello! I´m so glad you liked the book cover! And thank you SO SO much for the tips. I find them interesting! And YES! I did include Snowball in the cover even though I haven´t included him in the story.

 **Guest:** Oooo! I´m so glad you noticed the characters personality. I don´t think I´m very good at that, but oh well. So, this chapter is a bit longer, and I hope you like it. Thanks so much for your review!

 **Anon:** Thanks! I´m glad you like the story so far. I update every Wednesday, (or at least I try :D)

 **Here are the adventures of Joe and Mandie!** **:DDD**

* * *

"Common! Let´s go!" Mandie was urging Joe. "We´ll loose them if we don´t hurry up," she said.

"I´m coming," Joe answered who was slightly behind.

The pair kept running to see if they could catch up with the two people they had seen.

"Look!" Mandie pointed. "I see them! They´re right over there," she paused and kept running, "they just turned the corner," she said with shortness of breath.

"I´m still here," Joe said behind her. "The alleys are getting kind of "ugly". I don´t like the idea of you being alone," he said.

When they turned around the corner Mandie stopped suddenly and froze. The only thing that she moved were her eyes. Joe could tell how her eyes searched for Olivia and Jacob, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"Where did they go?" Mandie murmured to herself but said loud enough for Joe to hear.

Joe could notice that there was great disappointment in her voice. "I´m sure they´re around here somewhere," he said not wanting Mandie to give her hopes up. He hated seeing her feel defeat.

"No, they´re not," she finally said after she had recovered from the surprise of not finding them. She walked a little further into the street, or more of a dirty, small, cramped alley and just stared into the beyond.

Joe followed her and when they were about halfway down the alley, they heard a voice from behind them.

"What do we got here, Smithy?" a man asked.

Mandie and Joe both turned around to see who had spoken. They saw two men. One, whom Mandie supposed was Smithy, was very plump and he had a bottle of liquor. The other man was tall. He showed asperity and was holding some cigarettes.

"Now! Let´s see!" Smithy said. Smithy came close to the two and started to reach out to grab Mandie, but Joe stepped in front of her.

"Don´t touch her!" Joe shoved Smithy´s hand away.

"Hey!" he whined.

"You be careful, young man," the other man said.

"Don´t you dare get close to her," Joe glared at the two men with enmity.

"Hmm…" the still mysterious man said. "You´re a fighter and you´ve got spirit."

Mandie was praying the whole time. _Lord, please help us get out of this. I can´t promise I won't do it again, though._

 _Don´t keep promises you can't keep,_ she told herself. _Oh! I should have listened to Uncle Ned!_

"What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee. What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee," she said over and over again.

After Joe and the two men had discussed while Mandie was too busy praying, the unknow man said:

"You´re coming with us!" he said and took hold of Mandie´s arm who was behind Joe.

"I said," Joe shouted, "don´t touch her!" and he tried to take Mandie away from the man.

"Get out of the way," he shoved Joe who fell to the floor. "Take care of him," he instructed Smithy.

"Joe!" Mandie screamed. "Joe!" she shouted again. She tried to loosen her hold that the man had over her, but he was too strong.

"You´re coming with us," he said roughly.

"No!" she yelled. "No!"

"Mandie!" Joe shouted after her, "just do as you´re told," he said while Smithy was picking him up and grabbed his arms behind his back.

"Take them to the truck," the other man instructed.

"Right!" Smithy said while struggling with Joe.

The two men led Mandie and Joe through several alleys before Mandie noticed a small car in the distance.

"Is that where you´re taking us, Mr. umm… I don´t believe I know your name," she said trying to be friendly.

"No questions," the man said while Smithy joined in.

"You just shut your mouth," he said rudely.

They continued walking until they reached the wooden electric truck.

"Put them at the very back. Make sure they don´t see where we´re goin´" the man told Smithy.

"All righty," Smithy answered. With that, he shoved both of them into the very back of the truck.

"Bind them up so they can´t escape," the man ordered, "and then, we´re off."

"Where are you taking us?" Mandie asked Smithy kindly and she saw out of the corner of her eye that Joe was warning her not to ask anything.

"No!" she saw Joe moving his lips and shake his head.

"Liam said!" Smithy began, "no ques—"

"You fool!" Liam roared. "Now they know both out names!"

"Sorry, Liam," Smithy apologized.

"Ugh," Liam said with disgust, "leave your lame apologies for later!"

Mandie could notice Liam was mad so she decided to cooperate, just like Joe had told her to do.

Smithy put ropes around them, but didn´t do it very well. They were loose enough for Joe to get out of them if he tried hard enough. After that he didn´t waist time in trying to find small pieces of fabric to cover their eyes. He just put an old quilt over them.

"Are you okay?" Mandie asked when she noticed that he had started the truck and began moving.

"Yes, I´m fine," Joe assured her, "just some little bruises and scratches," he told her.

"I´m glad to hear that," she sounded less worried.

After a while of silence and hard thinking Mandie spoke again.

"I´m _so_ sorry that I got you into this. I got ourselves into this," she said. There was deep regret in her voice and Joe could sense it. "I should have remembered Uncle Ned´s words," she told herself. "He´s always telling me to be careful and be wise and not to run into trouble, but somehow I always end up doing exactly the opposite," Mandie said while she folded her legs and hung her head in between them.

Joe remained silent for a while, but he soon spoke in order to comfort her.

"Don´t worry, Mandie," he tried to pat her on the shoulder but wasn´t very succesful because of the ropes. "It wasn´t your fault," he told her.

"Yes, yes it was," she said with tears forming in her eyes. "I _know_ it was my fault."

"Don´t blame yourself," Joe told her. "We´ll get out of this one," he paused. "We´ve gotten out of worse ones before," he tried to comfort her.

"Shush up!" Smithy yelled from up front.

"You shut up yourself!" Liam told Smithy.

"Fine," Smithy complained.

"Don´t you whine, don´t you dare whine," Liam instructed, "I got you this job and you´re getting paid well. You do as your told. No less than that," he said.

Smithy just remained silent and continued driving.

When a few minutes had passed, Mandie began to talk again, but this time in a quieter voice.

"What do you think they´ll do with us?" Mandie asked Joe and lifted her head a little to see Joe´s face.

"I don´t know, but the best thing we can do, is just obey their orders," he advised her.

"I think that´s a good idea," Mandie smiled out of the corner of her mouth.

"Don´t worry about it," Joe reminded her. "We just have to ask God to help us."

"I think it´s a good time to say our verse," Mandie said.

"I agree."

They held hands and said their verse.

"What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee," they said.

"I feel better now," Mandie told Joe. "Everything is going to turn out alright," she sounded certain and confident.

Both Mandie and Joe felt like they were in the truck for hours, but the trip was quite quick. They crossed through some main roads, or at least they thought they were because they had heard some traffic, and at other times, they were turning around every corner, or at least it felt like that.

"Get out!" Liam yelled when the truck had slowed to a stop.

Mandie had no idea where they could be. For one thing, she didn´t know her way around Charleston, and second, when she did get out of the truck and her eyes got accustomed to the light again, she couldn´t recognize where she was.

Joe came out soon after she did and followed her to where Liam and Smithy were leading them to.

"Now," Liam began to tell Smithy, "you get those two inside and I´ll be in shortly. I have some business to do," he said.

"Right!" Smithy said.

Smithy shoved Mandie and Joe inside and told them to go up the stairs. He didn´t treat them very well, but both of them were being strong.

"Nate!" Smithy called, "get over here and help me get these two inside!"

 _They must be up to something,_ Mandie thought, _and this must be their hideout. And there´s lots of them,_ she thought again when she saw Nate come out with two other men.

"What do you want?" Nate asked rudely.

"Well, what does it look like? Get these two inside. I got 'a go somewhere," he told them.

"Common men," Nate started walking towards Mandie and Joe, and to them he said, "someone's waiting for you inside."

The other two men who were with Nate picked them up from the ground where Smithy had harshly put them down. The man who was with Mandie was gentler, she thought, and they both soon found themselves walking to the mysterious place where Nate had come out from.

She could only wonder who was waiting for them? Could it be Sallie? She was always looking out for Mandie, maybe she noticed that they had gone out of the dress shop and decided to follow them and somehow, they captured her too. No, it couldn´t be. But her curiosity only grew and her own answered didn´t satisfy her. But her curiousness wouldn´t last much longer, for she was soon too find out who wished to see them.

The ropes they had around them were taken away from them before then entered the room. Mandie was shoved in first, and she tried to look around but before she could catch a glimpse of a person who was standing there, her body was turned the opposite way of the man so she couldn´t see him. The same happened with Joe. They were seated in two chairs that had been put out for them, and then the ropes came back. The were fastened tightly to the chairs and were instructed not to turn around.

"Leave us alone," a man with a very deep voice said.

"Yes sir," Nate answered and he and his two men left quickly.

"Now," the man said, "I want to know who you are and why you are here."

"My name is Amanda Shaw and this is my brother, Joseph Shaw," she said, "and I don´t know why we are here either," she finished.

"Then how is it," he man raised him voice, "that they brought you hostages here?"

"We were following two people, and then Smithy and Liam found us and they took us," Mandie explained in an innocent voice. "I don´t know why, we didn´t do anything."

Joe motioned for her not to say too much.

"Hmmm…" the man wondered. "Quite interesting, isn´t it?"

The man walked in front of them and Mandie could see he was dressed in black from head to toe.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"That doesn´t concern you," he snapped, "unless," his voice grew suspicious, "you happen to be visiting Tommy Patton," he smiled. "Aren´t you his close friends?" he asked. "I didn´t know Mandie Shaw had a brother."

"Well, she does," Joe answered.

"I wasn´t talking to you," the man almost slapped Joe but Mandie interfered.

"No!" she yelled.

"No?" he asked. "What power do you have to tell me what to do?"

"It doesn´t matter. All I want to know is who you are and what you want with us," she said.

"Well, are you or are you not a friend of the Pattons?" the man wanted to know. He was desperate for answers, but he tried to contain himself.

"I am," Mandie confirmed.

"Good," the man was happy with her cooperation, "then tell me, Mandie Shaw, why did you come to visit your friend?

"Tell me your name," Mandie responded.

"Ahh!" the man tried not to show desperation, but Mandie could sense it in his face. "My name. My name is Anthony, or Tony," he said "politely", but then his voice changed, "now why did you come to visit Thomas Patton?" he roared.

"Well, I´m his friend, aren´t I?" Mandie said. "I have a right to visit my friends," she said, but before the man could answer the door swung open and Nate came in running.

"I told you to leave us!" Anthony yelled.

"Sir," Nate seemed nervous for what he was about to tell him, "the cops have found the hideout," he said.

 _Yes, yes, yes! They´ve found us!_ Mandie was excited to finally be getting out of this situation.

"Which hideout?" Tony asked.

"The one by the beach," he said. "The old, run-down, building."

"Nooooo!" Tony roared. "That´s where the money was!" he sounded furious. "Did you move it earlier this morning?" he asked.

Nate was afraid of what his reaction would be when he told him his answer so he stuttered for a while.

"Well?" Tony wanted to know.

"No sir," he finally said. "We didn´t get the chance to movie it."

His reaction was not so violent as expected. He only sat down on the floor and gave up.

"It´s finished. It´s all over," he repeated to himself.

After a while of grieving, he told Nate:

"It won´t be long before the cops find all of our hideouts, so take the money you want, give the others their pay and leave. Just go!" he said.

"Yes sir," Nate answered and then left.

"Mr. Anthony," Mandie began when she saw that there was movement outside, "what´s happening?" she asked.

"It´s no use hiding anything from anyone now," he said.

"You can tell us anything," she said.

"Let me get those ropes off of you," he said and started working on the ropes.

When they were freed, Joe´s first instinct was to start walking away, but Mandie held him back.

"What is it, Anthony?" she asked.

"My wife," he stammered, "she´s sick. Really sick. I stole some money and I made it look like it was the Pattons fault. I know it was wrong, but the doctors said that she was gonna die if she didn´t get proper treatment. I was willing to do anything, and now look what´s happened," he said in regret.

"Don´t worry, Mr." Mandie tried to comfort him. "Any man who loves his wife would of done anything for her," she said, "and I´ll be happy to help you get your wife better."

"She´s dead," he said. "She died this morning."

Mandie was so surprised she couldn´t speak for a moment.

"I´m _so_ sorry," she said.

"I was gonna give the money back today, what was the use of stolen money?" he said, "but it looks like the cops found the money before I could give it back."

Anthony and Mandie talked for a while and that´s when they heard movement again.

"They´ve found us," Joe said.

They heard lots of footsteps going up the stairs and then three police men entered the room in which they were in.

"I´ve found them!" one of them called.

"Shaw and Woodard are here," the other said.

"Who are you?" Mandie asked.

"We´re part of the Charleston Police, your safe now," an officer came and went towards Mandie and Joe. "Mrs. Patton reported that you two were missing and a friend of yours said she saw you leave and go into an alley. That wasn´t very helpful, but somehow you all got connected to Anthony here," he said.

"Take them into the car. Make sure you contact Mrs. Patton and tell her that we´ve found them," he said. "And take this man here and cuff him up. He´s gonna get in lots of trouble when they find out what he´s done."

Mandie was exiting the door when she heard the officer saying that she turned to the officer, "No!" she said. "Don´t give him a tough sentence, please!" the begged. "He was gonna give the money back today."

"Sorry, little girl, but that´s just the way the law works. People get punished for what they do," the officer responded.

"Don´t worry, Mandie," Tony told her from across the room, "I deserve it," he said.

"I´m very sorry," Mandie said with tears forming in her eyes. "If there´s anything I can do, please let me know," she said but the police men were already surrounding Tony.

"I´ll go visit you tomorrow!" Mandie called out hoping that Tony might have heard her.

Four cops lead Mandie and Joe out of the room and down stair to the exit. Lots of cops were already there classifying the scene as a crime scene and Mandie turned around to catch small glimpses of it, but one place in particular called her attention. She saw the man dresses in black and the woman who was dressed in purple so dark, it almost looked like black.

Was it just her imagination that was playing tricks on her? Especially after what had just happened, or had she really seen Mr. Jacob and Ms. Olivia? She also remembered the man had saluted her with his hat and the lady had just nodded her head.

What she remembered were only small glimpses of people investigating and going from here to there. Her mind was a blur, but she was sure it had been them in that corner. In that dark corner.

* * *

 **Wow! I gave you an EXTRA long chapter! Are you happy? I hope you are. Anyway, the story isn´t over yet. I´m going to stay true to the LGL Mandie Books and I´m going to write 12 chaps. I can´t believe I´m almost done! So… have a great day!**

 **Oh! And when Joe and Mandie are in the truck and I´m saying something like: "Mandie said while she folded her legs and hung her head in between them…" I wasn´t very good at describing that scene, so I´ll just tell you what I wanted it to look like. It´s kind of like the "tuck sitting position". You know like in the movies when someone is regretting something or they´re depressed or stuff like that.**

 **AND… when they say Psalms 56:3 and they´re holding hands, they´re holding both of they´re hands. You know, like when your marrying someone and you don´t hold just one hand. Wasn´t very good at describing that scene either, sorry.**

 **So… don´t forget! The story is NOT over yet!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello! Don´t be mad! Please! I´m really sorry for not updating yesterday, but I hadn´t finished the chapter. Can you believe the story is almost over? I still have one more chapter though and I might give you a spoiler or two in the next chap of my next story.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Guest:** Thank you! That really means a lot. I´m glad you think it´s good and I can´t wait to hear your opinion on this chapter!

 **MandieFan:** Thanks! I´m pleased that you felt like you were reading something from the LGL books!

 **CantDecideOnUsername:** LOL. I know right? Always so compassionate. Thanks for your review.

* * *

"Oh my!" Mrs. Patton exclaimed when she saw Mandie and Joe.

"We´ve been so worried about you!" Sallie rushed to hug Mandie. "When I saw you leave I thought you were just going outside to get out of that stuffy shop," she said, "but when you didn´t come back I started to get nervous and then when we were leaving you still didn´t return so I told Mrs. Patton that you were missing and we waited for you for about an hour or so but you never came back so we headed to the police station and—" she gasped for breath.

"Let´s give Mandie and Joe a moment to settle down," Mrs. Patton intervened, "and I´m sure they´ll be tired and hungry after all this excitement."

"I think that´s a good idea," Joe agreed.

Mandie was still thinking about Tony and was still in shock of her discovery.

"Mandie, dear," Mrs. Patton reached out, "you´ve been through a lot today, I think you should get some rest," she said.

"Mrs. Patton," Mandie said slowly and quietly, "you´re not guilty," she said.

"What?" Mrs. Patton asked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You´re not guilty," she repeated in a whisper.

"I don´t understand," Mrs. Patton said.

"They´ve found them," Mandie said.

"Found whom?"

"The thieves," was all Mandie could say before she collapsed of tiredness.

"Mandie!" everyone rushed around her.

"I´m all right," she assured them, "I´m just really tired."

"We should get you back home, dear," Mrs. Patton was worried.

"No! No!" Mandie protested. "I want to stay here and see Tony again. I´m sure they´ll bring him right away," she said.

"Who´s Tony?" Celia asked.

"He´s the one who stole the money—" Mandie was too tired to finish so Joe finished for her.

"Who accused you," he said directing himself to Mrs. Patton and Tommy, "of robbery," he finished.

Mrs. Patton gasped, and raised her hand to cover her opened mouth.

"What does that mean?" Tommy asked.

"Anthony," Mandie gasped for air, "he was the one who stole the money," she said. "He made it look like it was your fault and he—"

"He hired a lot of people and they´ve been hiding the money," Joe finished again.

"Yes, and that´s when the cops found us," Mandie added.

"Who is he?" Jonathan asked.

"And what did he want with the money?" Sallie also asked.

"I suppose he´s a poor man who can barely make a living," Mandie said, "and he wanted the money to pay for his wife´s expensive medical bills," she finished.

"Poor man…" Celia´s voice trailed off.

"And he stole _that_ much money to pay medical bills?" Tommy asked.

"How is his wife?" Sallie asked.

Mandie and Joe were bombarded with questions and were answering some now and then when they had the chance to.

"His wife died," Joe told Sallie.

"Oh!" was all Sallie could say, "I´m so sorry."

"I really think we should go," Mrs. Patton said.

"No!" Mandie pleaded. "Please! I really want to see how Tony is," she said.

Mrs. Patton was opposed to the idea of meeting the man who had accused them and had ruined their reputation, but the other young people also wanted to meet him, so she finally gave in.

"Well…" Mrs. Patton didn´t seem convinced that she wanted to meet Tony. "I think I might wait in the carriage," she said, "you know, just to rest some."

"Thank you," Mandie said. "We´ll be at the carriages shortly. I´m sure Tony won't be long."

And she wasn´t wrong. The rest of the cops soon appeared in the hallway and they held Tony captive.

"Tony!" Mandie rushed to him. "We´ve been waiting for you!" she said while she was ran towards him but the officers didn´t let her get close to him.

"No!" Mandie struggled, "he´s my friend," she told them.

"You know this man?" they asked her.

"Well… sort of," she said.

"What do you mean sort of?" the officer asked.

"We met at the old warehouse," she explained. "He held us captive but he´s my friend," she said.

"Let me get this straight," the cop began, "he held you captive but he´s your friend?"

"Umm…" her voice trailed off, "yes, sir!" she confirmed.

"Go see that man over there and he´ll tell you when you can come and visit him," he said and pointed towards a man who was sitting behind a desk.

"All right," she said and headed to the desk.

When she got there the man was busy doing some paperwork and he didn´t notice that she was there.

"Excuse me, sir," she said in order to get his attention.

"Oh, yes! I´m very sorry miss, a little distracted here," he said and looked up to see who was talking to him.

"I´m Amanda Shaw and that man over there," she said and pointed out an officer, "he told me to come over here to see when I could come and visit Tony, Anthony, and I would really like to see him now," she finished.

"How old are you?" he asked her.

"Fourteen," she said.

"I´m very sorry, but I´m afraid your much to young to visit him unless you are a family member," he said, and then continued, "besides, it would be impossible to visit someone who _just_ came in."

"Well, I´m a friend of his," she said, "does that count?"

"No, I´m afraid it doesn´t," he answered.

He could see the look of disappointment on Mandie´s face so he said: "If you come tomorrow accompanied by an adult, there is a probability that they may let you in and see him, but I can´t promise anything."

"Thank you, sir," Mandie said and left with a little bit of hope.

Mandie left and her friend followed her to the carriages.

Sallie could sense Mandie´s disappointment, so she tried to cheer her up.

"I´m really sorry that you weren´t able to see Tony today, but at least you have some hope for tomorrow. I wanted to meet him, you know," she said.

"It´s okay," Mandie responded. "It makes sense that they wouldn´t let us in," She paused for a while, and then continued, but I do hope that I can come tomorrow. Do you think Mrs. Patton will let us?" she asked.

"I don´t think so," Jonathan told her.

"And besides, tomorrow is Sunday," Celia reminded them all.

"Ohhhh! I almost forgot about that," she said.

"Then maybe we can come on Monday," Joe suggested.

"But I think we´ll be leaving on Monday," Mandie told him.

"I forgot about _that_ ," Joe said.

"I guess we´ll just have to find some time to come and see Tony," Sallie told her.

They got into the carriages and Mrs. Patton asked how it had gone with Tony.

They told her that they weren´t able to visit Tony but they said that they could probably see him another day if an adult came along with them.

"Well, I´m sorry you weren't able to see him," Mrs. Patton said. Then to the driver, "take us back home."

"No!" Mandie opposed. "Weren´t we going to a restaurant?"

"We were, dear," Mrs. Patton stated, "but you must be tired, and you should rest some after all this excitement."

"I´m fine! Really!" Mandie told her. "I think Jonathan could use some food, anyway," she said and smiled at Jonathan who gave her a gratifying look.

"I think we should really go back home," Mrs. Patton insisted.

"But didn´t you tell Mr. Patton that we would meet again at the restaurant?" Joe commented.

"Well," Mrs. Patton hesitated, "I did say we would meet at the restaurant, and we could _never_ find his around the city."

"I think that´s a call to go to the restaurant," Celia grinned.

"Well, it looks like I lose," she said, and to the driver, "never mind about going back to the house, we´re heading to the restaurant and we´ll meet Mr. Patton there."

"Yes, of course, ma´am," the driver said and turned the carriage around.

"Thank you, Mrs. Patton," Mandie said.

"Nonsense," Mrs. Patton said, and then added, "I think you all deserve this little treat anyway, you _did_ clear out name and tomorrow I´m sure you´re names will appear in the papers."

"I´m glad I could help," Mandie said.

"And if we ever need any help again, we know who to call, right mother?" Tommy said.

"Yes! I know exactly who to call," Mrs. Patton said and smiled.

* * *

"A table for eight," Mrs. Patton told the waiter.

"Follow me," the man said and walked across the room to a big, round table that was fancy and well decorated.

"Are you waiting for someone or shall we begin?" another waitress appeared and handed out menus.

"No, we´re waiting for someone, but I guess we can take a peek in the menus and start to decide what we would like," Mrs. Patton said.

"Very well," she said, and left.

After a while, Mr. Patton arrived and he seemed to be in a rush.

"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Patton asked.

"You´ll never guess what just happened!" he told everyone.

"Do tell us," Mrs. Patton told him.

"Our name is cleared!" he shouted and almost catching the attention of other customers.

"And do you know that Mandie and Joe were the ones to solve the case?" she told him calmly.

"Oh! I never found out about that!" Mr. Patton exclaimed.

"Well, it´s true, dad, and if we ever need any help again, I know who to call," Tommy said and winked at Mandie.

Joe caught him winking at Mandie and he didn´t like it, so he decided to start talking to Mandie.

"How are you?" he asked her.

"I´m fine, considering our recent experiences," she smiled.

Joe chuckled and said, "are we ever going to stop getting into dangerous situations?"

"I don´t think so," Mandie said. After a small pause, she continued, "wait till mother hears all about it. I´ll never hear the end of it," she laughed.

"And _my_ mother. She thinks I´m old enough to realize that we shouldn't be going after trouble, but I couldn´t let you go alone."

"Thank you, Joe," Mandie said and hung her head to because she didn´t want Joe to see that he had made her blush.

"What are you going to do when you get home?" he asked her after a while.

"I don´t know," she said. "My mother wants to visit Ms. Hamilton, and I think I might tag along, but I certainly _must_ go and visit you and your family, and also Uncle Ned up in Deep Creek."

"You're always welcome to come and stay with us," Joe told her. "I´m sure my mother would love to have you."

"I look forward to visiting you, and I´ll be able to visit my father´s old cabin, it´s mine now, anyway," she said and smiled at the memories that had happened almost a year ago, and she also remembered how rude she had been to Joe and that made her distracted.

"Mandie!" she heard someone call her name.

She looked up and a waitress was taking their orders.

"Oh! Right! I would like, umm… let´s see, I would like the chicken salad with… how about a brisket."

"Right away," the waitress said and turned to leave.

"What were you thinking about?" Joe asked her.

"Nothing," she responded quickly.

"Were you thinking about a gallant young man, who has brown hair and dark eyes?" he joked with her.

"Haha, very funny," she said, "but, maybe I _was_ thinking about a gallant young man, who has brown hair, and dark eyes, and a handsome face," she added.

"I wonder whom that could be," Joe said thoughtfully and winked at Mandie.

"I wonder too," she said.

They had a wonderful evening, and everyone went home happy. Everything had been solved and cleared out. The Pattons´ name had been cleared and they were all out of danger. Little did Mandie know that someone, far away, was planning out her future. A future that could change her whole life.

* * *

 **Okay, even though this may seem like an ending, it isn't. The next chap will be #12 and the last. I know this chapter wasn´t worth the wait, but I couldn´t think of anything else to come up with. So, enjoy the rest of your day!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello! It IS Wednesday! And, like I promised, here´s your update. Yay! I finally updated on time, lol. I really don´t want this to end, but it had too :( First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has been following my story. Thank you for your kind, supportive and inspiring reviews. They´ve encouraged me to keep writing even though I may have not updated every Wednesday ;D Thanks to** CantDecideOnUsername **,** Erin Elizabeth **,** MandieFan **,** LinaKTC25 **,** Guest **, and** Anon **.**

 **Now, to the story.**

* * *

"I´m so glad we were able

to go visit Tony one last time," Sallie said while they were getting off the carriages and stepped onto the train station.

"Yes!" Mandie agreed. "I´m glad that they´re not giving him a harsh sentence," she added.

"I heard it was some of your doing," Joe whispered into her ear. "Am I right?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I know you begged them to not give him a harsh sentence," he said.

"Well, I might have telegraphed uncle John and asked for his help," she said slowly.

"Ahh," Joe said, "I see."

"Your uncle is always so generous," Celia joined in.

"Yes. He´s the best uncle," Mandie informed them all.

"Well, ladies and boys," Mrs. Patton came over to their little group, "it looks like your luggage is all taken care of and here are your tickets," she handed them over.

"Thank you, Mrs. Patton," Mandie began," for everything! I had a wonderful time in Charleston and you _must_ come and visit us in Franklin soon," she invited.

"Yes, Mrs. Patton, everything was wonderful, the food, the little tours and everything," Celia said after Mandie.

"Especially the food," both Joe and Jonathan said and smiled while rubbing their bellies.

Mrs. Patton laughed and the girl joined her.

"I´m glad you enjoyed your stays here, young ladies," she said to them while the boys were busy discussing what their favorite meal had been. "Come back whenever you want, and don´t forget, Mandie, you are _always_ welcome, and I´m sure Tommy will be waiting anxiously for your next visit."

"I´ll come back soon," she assured her, "but, where is Tommy? I haven´t seen him ever since we got off the carriage," she asked.

"Oh! Tommy and his father are over there," she pointed to two men who were talking by the train platform, "you see, Tommy´s sister happens to be returning today, I don´t think I ever mentioned that Josephine was visiting her cousins who live in Delaware, and he and his father are waiting for her."

"Oh! I see," Sallie said.

"Oh! Look! The train´s coming!" Mandie pointed at the distant blur.

"I can´t wait to go home and see Aunt Rebecca! I haven´t seen her in so long," Celia commented.

"Don´t forget, first, you´re staying with me!" Mandie said.

"Yes, of course," she replied.

The five of them waited for the train to stop and they said their final goodbyes.

"Hello," Mandie heard a girl speak and turned around.

"Josephine!" Mandie exclaimed. "It´s been quite a while!"

"Yes, it has been a long time since we last met," she said.

"Well, we were just going to board the train, so, goodbye!" Mandie said and gave her a small hug.

"Bye!" The Pattons waved after them and when Mandie was about to step into the train, someone was also coming out.

"Uncle Ned!" she gasped and hugged him.

"Hello Papoose," he said in his broken English and accent. "John sent me to come for papoose and friends."

"I´m glad you did!" Mandie said. "We have so much to tell you!"

"Hello, grandfather," Sallie said and hugged him also.

"Papooses get in trouble?" he asked.

Both Mandie and Sallie laughed.

"Sort of," Mandie said, "but Joe was with me the whole time," she assured him.

"Did papoose think and then act?" Uncle Ned asked.

"Hmm…" her voice trailed off. "Can´t say that I did," she gave him a big smile.

"Naught girl," he scolded but she laughed again. "And what about you, my granddaughter, did you think and then act?"

"I did not get in any trouble, my grandfather," Sallie replied.

"Good," he said.

"Hello, Uncle Ned," Joe said and shook hands.

Jonathan and Celia also greeted him.

"Are you taking us up to Franklin?" Celia asked him.

"Yes. John sent me," he told them

"I´m glad," Celia replied. "I don´t like traveling alone."

"All aboard!" the group herd someone yell.

"We should go in now," Jonathan suggested.

"Good idea," Joe agreed and they all stepped into the train.

Uncle Ned hadn´t even sat down yet when Mandie began to describe their adventure and how everything had been solved. She told him how on Monday morning, right after breakfast, she headed to the police station and talked to the men and was able to talk with Tony.

 **Monday morning**

"Please!" Mandie begged the assistant who was behind the front desk. "I just want to talk with Tony! His full names is Anthony… umm… Anthony?" she had left the Pattons house with Joe and Sallie right after breakfast, and back at the house, they thought that they had just gone out to walk.

"You can´t come without an adult, miss," they informed her yet again.

"But—"

"It´s alright," Mandie heard a deep voice from behind her, "she´s with me."

"Mr. Patton!" Mandie exclaimed. "How did you know I was here? What are you doing here? Did you come to see Tony?"

"Well, I didn´t know you were here. I happened to stop by because I wanted to see this Anthony for myself and when I _did_ stop I saw Joe and Sallie waiting for you outside," he said.

"I´m glad you decided to stop by," she said. "I was really hoping I could see Tony one last time. We´re leaving tomorrow, you know."

"Yes, I thought you might have wanted to see him."

"We´ll go in and see Anthony, now, Jenkins," Mr. Patton told the officer who was beside him. "Amanda, this is Officer Jenkins. He had been helping me with the case, but it looks like you solved the last part. You see, we already had important clues and we were getting closer and closer but you found Tony first. We´re surprised he was working alone. We don´t see how he could of done all that work without any help."

Mandie remembered how Tony told everyone to leave. _Even after everything he went through, he still cared about the people he worked with,_ she thought.

"Sir!" a private called after Officer Jenkins and Mr. Patton. "We found these papers in Anthony´s hideout. I believe they belong to Mr. Patton."

"Well done, private," Jenkins said and patted him on the back.

"These are the pages that were missing from my desk in my office!" Mr. Patton exclaimed as he took the papers from the private. "What would he want with these, though?" he asked Jenkins after examining the papers.

"My only guess is that he wanted to ruin your reputation more than he already had," Jenkins told him.

"You could be right," Mr. Patton answered. Then he saw Mandie and remembered that they were heading to see Tony. "So where is Anthony?"

"Right this way," Jenkins led the way.

"Tony!" Mandie rushed to his cell when she saw him.

"Miss Amanda," Tony got up and went closer to the bars that separated him. "I didn´t expect to see you again," he said.

"I came here the day we found you, let´s see, when was that, I think it was Saturday, but they wouldn´t let me in," she explained.

"It´s alright. You didn´t have to come and see me," Tony said pleased that someone remembered him.

"Mandie!" Sallie and Joe rushed in. "Oh! There you are!"

"What are you doing here?" Mandie asked.

"You took too long so we decided to come in and they wouldn´t let us in but we were able to sneak in here," Sallie explained.

"Look Sallie," she said, "this is Mr. Tony. Tony, this is Sallie, my friend."

"Nice to meet you," Tony stuck out his hand to shake hands but Jenkins quickly yelled:

"Don´t touch them!"

Tony quickly removed his hand and asked: "You are Joseph Shaw? Right?"

"I´m afraid I might have told a little lie," Mandie said. "He´s not my brother," she told him, "this is my friend, Joe Woodard."

"Well, I´m sure you were scared. I would have done the same. I wouldn´t want to give away my name," Tony said.

Before Mandie and her friends could keep talking to Tony, Jenkins interrupted their conversation.

"Anthony , I need to know where you got these papers and why you had them. Tell me. Now!" Jenkins roared.

"Well, you see, sir, to make the story I made up about the Pattons stealing money more believable, I tried to steel papers and maybe you would think that the Pattons were connected with some foreign group or something like that. I had no idea what those papers were about, though, sir," he assured Jenkins.

"Anther question," Jenkins started again, "why did you want so much money when medical bills aren´t _that_ expensive."

"If I stole some money, it wouldn´t be very believable, but if I stole a lot, then that would be accepted better," he said.

"But he was going to return it the day you found him," Mandie interfered.

"Smart, huh?" Jenkins turned to look at Mr. Patton.

"Yep," he said.

"Well, we´ll leave you four to talk," Jenkins said and left the room with Mr. Patton.

"I managed to telegraph my uncle who lives in North Caroline to see if he could interfere and maybe they won´t give you such a harsh sentence. Maybe they´ll shorten your stay here in prison. My uncle is a wealthy and powerful man. I´m sure he can pull some strings," Mandie told him.

"Thank you miss, that´s very kind, but I get what I deserve. I stole money and that is a sin. I knew it was bad to steel, but…" his voice started to break.

"But you were desperate to see your wife get better," Mandie finished for him.

"Yes," Tony said.

After Joe, Sallie, and Mandie talked with Tony for a while, Mr. Patton came back into the room.

"Time to go," he called to them who were at the end of the hallway.

"We´ll be right there," Joe called back.

They said their goodbyes and Mandie explained that they would be leaving tomorrow.

"We´ll be leaving tomorrow, which is Tuesday. We´re heading back home," she said. "I won´t be able to see you again."

"Thank you for coming and seeing me," Tony said.

"No problem, and I´ll be praying for you," she said.

"Could you pray for Nate also? Nate and his group," he added. "I´m sure they could use your prayers, miss."

"Of course I will! I´ll tell my friends to pray also!"

Mandie was almost at the end of the hallways when Tony called out after her.

"Pirates!" he yelled.

Mandie turned around and asked, "What?"

"Pirates!" he repeated. "Nate and I," he paused remembering his friend, "we called ourselves pirates. We said we had a secret. A pirate´s secret! I thought you might just want to know that," he said and smiled.

"I´ll be praying for the pirates, then," she said and smiled.

"Thank you, miss Amanda."

 **Tuesday, on the train**

"So, there you go, Uncle Ned," Mandie said. "Those were our adventures," she finished.

"Papoose always gets in trouble," Uncle Ned chuckled, "but Big God always protect papoose," he said.

"Yes! I thank God for his protection," Mandie agreed, and then said: "And, are there any mysteries back home or in Deep Creek that may need my assistance?" she asked.

The whole group laughed.

"Mandie, always chasing mysteries," Joe said.

"Yep! I think that´s me!"

* * *

"How is she?" a man asked.

He was sitting on a chair, in the middle of a dark room. Very dark. Pitch black. Only some light was able to come in by the holes on the roof. He saw the silhouette of a woman come in a noticed how she was precautious to not make a sound.

"She is ready," the woman replied.

"When?"

"In a couple of years. Two, maybe three."

"Everything is going as planned, then?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Perfect!"

"What shall I do, then?"

"Keep watching her. Watch her closely, day and night. She must not attract any sort of attention. Not for herself, and not to other people."

"Then I will go. I will disappear, if that is what you wish."

"Go, then," The Man In Black instructed.

* * *

 **Ahhhhhhhh! You finished! Can you believe it. I kind of think that the ending wasn´t quite what I imagined it would be like, but oh well.**

 **Like I promised in the last update, I´m gonna talk about my future stories.**

 **Ever since I started Pirate´s Secret, my initial plan was for this to kind of be the intro to my next fanfic, which will be based after New Horizons. I haven´t EVER read College Days, and that´s why I can´t start on it yet. I ordered it online and I should be getting it soon (around the end of February) but, something I learned about making stories, is that you should write the whole story first and then start posting chapters. And you should write the title at the end when you´ve finished everything. At the beginning, my plan was for Mandie to find some pirate´s treasure or something like that, but when I was around chap 5 I started to notice "Wait a minute. There´s nothing about a pirate´s secret here" and I was able to correct that little mistake by what Tony said they called themselves. So, that being said, you won't be hearing much from me until I´ve finished writing College Days book 2. I think I might make it 24 chapters long and each chapter containing 5,000 words or more (you may have noticed this earlier, but every chap in Pirate´s Secret had at least 2,000 words except for chap 10 which had like 3,500) but I might change that when I get the book. I want to make it more "grown-upish", more serious, not so much for children like the normal LGL books are. Also, I´ve been having doubts on what to call it. At first, I wanted to stay true to the LGL books which always start with "Mandie and…" but since it´s gonna be part of the College Days series, I thought I might name it something like "New Beginnings" or something with the word "New". What do you think? What should I do? I have the main plot, but I still don´t have a mystery. Don´t worry though, I´ll get inspired sooner or later. And… here´s an extra spoiler: I don´t have the basic plot for only "New Beginnings" (we´ll call it that for now), but for 10 other fics! 8 of them are based after New Beginnings and 2 are around Seaside Rendezvous to Graduation Mystery. *NOTE: I have NOT read the 8 last books of Mandie Series***

 **So I guess I confused you a ton, but here´s this last little detail before I leave you for a LOOOONG time. If I see that I´m taking too long to finish "New Beginnings", I´ll start making one that is based after Pirate´s Secret so you don´t have to wait** _ **that**_ **much.**

 **Ahhh… I don´t want to say goodbye! But I guess I must so I can start to write "New Beginnings".**

 **I had been planning a long, inspirational, "Anne Shirley type" of goodbyes, but I´m not that inspired. I can only wait until we meet again.**

 **Goodbye.**


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